want to hear it from you first. Come clean man," said Mantel.
Phil was now feeling a bit deflated, embarrassed and ashamed with the whole situation.
"How can Margaret do this to me?"
"What has she done to you, Phil?"
"Margaret has packed her bags and left me," claimed Phil.
"I am so sorry to hear that Margaret has left you, Phil" and "It's about time you start speaking the truth."
"It pains me to tell you that I had an affair with Naomi. I was offering her counselling for a few months when her mum went into a care home. At first the relationship between us was absolutely platonic. Margaret and I weren't intimate for ages. We slept in separate rooms."
"I hear you, Phil."
"I feel so ashamed, Mantel."
"I don't need to know, Phil."
"One day I had a blazing argument with Margaret and was filled with rage and I went over to Naomi's to cool down. It was not supposed to happen. She hugged me and one thing led to the other."
"Thank you for sparing me the details."
"It was the first and only time we were intimate. It was a mistake. It never happened again. I'm truly sorry Mantel. I know now that she loves you. I was jealous of your successes whilst my marriage was disintegrating. I wanted to be more like you."
"You must be yourself, Phil. We are all children of God. We are a special people. He has given us every blessing under the sun."
"What about the merger with the church alliance?"
"I think it would bring all the talents and resources together under one roof."
"There is money missing from the church accounts. I have checked the books with the bank and you have made four unauthorized withdrawals. The bank statements do not balance with the books. The church is in deep finance debt and I can't trust you anymore as the church treasurer, Phil."
"I am tendering my resignation as church deacon with full effect from today, Mantel."
"Your resignation has been accepted and the forensic accountants will be contacting you shortly, Phil."
"The merger with the Pentecostal church was manipulated by you to cover up your dishonesty. If you needed money why didn't you ask me?"
"It's hard to ask for help when you are in debt. There is a stigma of mismanaging your money and how people perceive you as ineffectual."
"There is no shame in helping one another."
"Can you turn a blind eye, Mantel?"
"No. Our accountant has gone to the authorities and you will be charge for fraud. I'm truly sorry, Phil. So take care of yourself. You must leave now as I am delivering a sermon on Sunday morning."
"Please don't hate me, Mantel."
"I don't. I have always held you with the highest esteem. All mankind have their fragilities even me. Take care of yourself man. I really mean it."
Thirty-six
The bright sunlight beamed through the stained glass window illuminating a pile of notes of Sunday sermon. Mantel closed his eyes for a few seconds and felled into a deep sleep again. The call of nature awakened him. He rushed out of his bed throwing the sheets across the room and he just managed to urinate inside the pan. He was still stunned by Phil's revelation about his relationship with Naomi and the ever diminishing church finances.
Mantel kept his eyes on the clock hoping that time would standstill. For the first in his life he wasn't looking forward to going to church and telling the congregation the bad news. He buried his head under the sheets for comfort and he lifted his head out of the sheets on a few occasions to have a peep at the clock. He felled asleep again for a few hours only for the blaring sound of a neighbour's car horn to wake him up. He was running late for Sunday Service. He had a quick wash up and drove to the church in break neck time.
Standing to greet him at the church entrance was Naomi. Jeff, Jill, Jan and Fred were all seated amongst the congregation.
"Hurry up man."
"I thought you went to London, Naomi."
"I thought you needed my support."
"Thank you for coming, Naomi."
"No problem."
"Are you still under investigation?"
"No. I have been exonerated by the local authority and the General Council of Social work. The Crown Prosecution Services have found insufficient evidence to charge me. "
"I am pleased for you, Naomi. It must be a massive relief."
"I can't practice social work without feeling ostracised by the profession."
"What are you going to do with yourself?"
"I'll use my new found wealth to cushion the blow."
"What wealth?"
"I am now the joint owner of a bakery and a number of apartments in Upper Ashworth. Do you remember the elderly lady?"
"Yes. How is she?"
"She went away with my cousin, Erik."
"Where did they go?"
"Barbados."
"She asked me to support you."
"I'm okay. God will provide."
"Yes. He will always provide for us and He will perform in mysterious ways."
They walked down the aisle of the church together with arms interlocked, striding with a purpose, direction, unity, sincerity and in harmony.
"They'll make a lovely couple. Don't you think Pastor Fred," said Sister Edna.
"I don't know about that, Sister Edna."
"Look at them, they're in love."
"Love can't pay the bills, Sister Edna."
"That's something you clearly do know about."
Pastor Fred was clearly incensed by Sister Edna comments but he held his tongue as Mantel climbed up the steps to the platform leading to the brass pulpit angel stand. Mantel ripped up his fully prepared sermon into a shredder. The elders of the church were shocked by Mantel act of defiance. They have always kept to the script. Other members of the congregation cheered him on. He stepped down from the pulpit to be on the ground level with the congregation.
"I have something to say to you all. Deacon Phil has resigned. There is not going to be a merger between ourselves and the Alliance. Church funds are low but our God is big and He will provide the resources for us. He is the one who built this church. Are there any further questions?"
There was a long pause inside of the church. The silent was unusual for a clap hand, stomp dancing and hallelujah church. Fred broke the ice.
"Preach brother, preach."
"I can't preach the word today. My heart is overwhelmed with grief."
"Yes, you can. I have made some serious mistakes with people lives in the past and I hope you will all find it in your hearts to forgive me. I have lived with guilt and shame for a long time. The best thing I have ever done was to pass on the leadership of the church into the safe hands of Pastor Mantel and Brother Jeff. Preach from the heart and soul, Mantel."
"Thank you for your honesty, Pastor Fred. You have demonstrated to us all that there is a need for change. We need to change. We can't go on living our lives like this anymore. I need to change my views on life from God's perspective and you need to change too my brothers and sisters."
"Preach it, brother," shouted Fred.
"We need to change. Does anyone out there want to change? Are you with me?"
The congregation went quiet. No-one wanted to change. They were too old and were settled into their comfort zone.
"There is no need to fear change. Jesus is the life changer. He's still changing lives today. He is not looking for Mr. Perfect or Miss. Perfect. You don't need to fear change. You need to change your attitude towards change."
"I want to talk to the disobedient, the vulnerable and the mentally depressed. God is searching the hearts of his people the grateful, the unfaithful, the lost, the broken hearted, the weak and the prosecuted. Do you hear me?"
"We hear you, brother," replied Margret.
"We need to change, amen."
"Yes," answered Sister Edna.
"We need to change. We need to change from relying on our strength. We need to change by trusting in the God who is orderin
g our steps. Amen!"
"Amen, pastor," shouted Elder Jack.
"We need to change our life style from being a half-baked depressed Christian to becoming the sons or daughters of the king. Are you with me?"
"Yes man," shouted Elder Jack.
"We need to change from having a mediocre outlook on life to having an excellent spirit like that of Joshua and Caleb. Do you hear me, church?"
"We hear you, pastor."
"We need to change our negative attitude and hopeless thinking. Where there is doubt, we will replace it with faith. Where there is hate, we will exchange it with love. Are you listening to me, brethren's?"
"We need to change from storing up all of our treasures on earth where robbers and thieves can steal and destroy them and we must set our sights on things above. I am not saying we don't need money to buy goods and services. We need to earn a living but not at the expense of neglecting God's work. We need to end the service with a prayer."
"Help us father to recognize that we need to be more like your son. We've made mistakes along the way. We have lived with those past hurts and heartaches for far too long. We want to forgive and love our enemies, our employers, and workmates. We ask you lord to restore our relationships with our wives and husbands as Christ loved and died for the church. We are more than able to overcome our circumstances. We have a vision to love and help the widow, the fatherless, the homeless and our neighbours, and the poor in our society. Amen."
"Let us say the Lord's prayer together before we depart and go our separate ways?"
Jeff made a dash to the pulpit waving his hands furiously into the air to get Mantel attention.
"Mantel," shouted Jeff.
"What is it, Jeff?"
"We have some good news."
"Yes."
"God has blessed us with a cheque for twenty thousand pounds," whispered Jeff who