where are the spiritual fathers?

A fictional rendering of truth by Douglas Crumbly

Dr. James Norris graduated 2nd in his class of over 400 from the esteemed Chandler School of Theology in Wilmore Kentucky. He went on to earn his doctorate of psychology from the University of Maryland. He also received honorary degrees from two other institutions for his work on Societal Change Through Tragedy, and for his best selling book, Relevance, Being There When They Need Us a book about societal change that takes place during a tragedy, and how the non-profit agencies, specifically churches could better serve humanity by understanding their role when tragedy occurs.

For the past 9 years Dr. Norris had enjoyed the very prestigious position of being the Senior Minister at the Church of the Holy Cathedral in downtown Washington D.C. Always a great communicator Dr. Norris was sought after as a minister, a motivator and “since Holy Cathedral had grown from 1500 to over 6000 under his leadership”, a church growth specialist as well. He seemed to have all the answers that everyone was asking. Besides the tremendous growth Holy Cathedral had experienced in his tenure, the church was filled with the wealthiest D.C. had to offer. It wasn’t unusual for him to council with celebrities, politicians, and even 1 past president when he was experiencing marital difficulties. At 47 Dr. James Norris seemed to be at the pinnacle of his career.

Staying at home this morning eating breakfast with Susan, his beautiful and much younger wife by 12 years and their 3 year old daughter Caitlyn was something James did not get to do that often. The ministry, the counseling sessions and all of the speaking engagements have kept him very busy. “Sometimes too busy”, he thought to himself, but Susan, never complained. As he wiped the crumbs off his lower lip from the bagel he had been eating, he began to think about her. At 35 she was a gorgeous as ever and could still turn heads, and usually did. When they met 10 years ago she was finishing up her residency and had just landed a job at the newest Center for Oncology Studies in upper D.C. County, something Susan had been dreaming of for years now. Since the death of her mother 14 years ago from an un-relentless form of liver cancer, Susan had made it her life’s ambition to help people fight this horrible disease.

Accepting the position at O.S.D.C. proved to be very convenient for both of them especially since James had just accepted the position at Holy Cathedral, and they were to be wed just three months later. And although Susan was raised in the deep-south in a very strict and traditional Baptist home, she had managed to evolve into a scientist with very liberal views towards God and the Bible. It really didn’t matter to Jim anyway, for any passion he ever had for truth and for God’s Word had been stripped away from his impressionable young mind while attending Seminary.

It was as fresh in his mind today as the day they met. Jim reflected. He was the young aspiring preacher just about to finish his degree from Seminary, as Susan was busy doing her internship at Saint Regions Hospital of Bellmore County studying to be a doctor of Oncology. 

Jim had eaten some salmon that had disagreed with him and had to go to the emergency room one night with horrible stomach pains. Susan had taken a part time position as an emergency room physician at the county hospital on weekends. It wasn’t too glamorous, but it did help pay for some of the student loans she had had to take out in order to finish school. He laughs now when he recalls how all of a sudden he got well when she walked into the room. He loves to tell the story of how he had to “get sick” four other times before he could talk her into going out for a cup of coffee. “I finally wore her down with my persistent begging”, he said. “Yeah, and I felt sorry for him and decided to go out that once to get him off my back, and to hopefully save him some money with all of those medical bills”, she would always reply. On September the 10th, just six short months later, Jim Norris and Susan Stinson became husband and wife.

It had been just one day since they celebrated their wedding anniversary so James was still very excited about all of the good news he had heard in the last 24 hours. It all started when he gave Susan the keys to the new Lexus she had been wanting. She in turn announced the promotion she had received at the practice she had been working at for the last 9 years. It was official; Dr. Susan Norris at only 35 was now a partner with one of the most respected medical clinics in the country. It wasn’t unusual for celebrities, politicians and even dignitaries from other countries to go through the doors of their office. With 400 other doctors vying for the position, Jim and Susan had reason for celebration
It was just too much Jim thought. As he had been reflecting for the past few minutes he couldn’t help himself, all he wanted to do was hold her again and say a silent prayer of thanks.

It was 7:45 a.m.

At the exact same time that James was thanking the Lord for his life and family two men from the Middle East were boarding American Airlines Flight 11 from in Boston to Los Angeles. Mohammed Atta, and Abdulaziz Alomari were about to become infamous as they seemingly unnoticed by anyone prepared to board the flight that would change the very culture of America forever.

An hour later as they were finishing up James leaned over to help Caitlyn butter her toast and kiss her goodbye for the day when his attention was drawn to the small 13 inch television they kept on the kitchen counter. For some reason he glanced down at his watch, it read 9:02 a.m., looking back up he couldn’t believe his eyes as he saw one of the World Trade Towers in New York on fire and without warning he watched in horror as another plane flew into the second one.

For the next hour as he watched in total awe and disbelief it never registered to him that Susan was at his side nor did he hear the telephone ringing off the hook. Caitlyn was enjoying this moment of freedom and decided her puppy needed her breakfast more than she did. Only the sound of a glass cereal bowl breaking against ceramic floor was able to bring Jim and Susan to reality.

Susan reached for the phone and after a few yeses, and one “Oh my God”, she dropped the receiver to the floor. The pentagon had been attacked by terrorists.

Time, pressure, and the right circumstances will always reveal our true colors.  Not status, nor education, nor even money will reveal character like pressure will. It revealed the righteousness of Job. It revealed the hypocrisies of a few ministries in the late 80’s. It will and has revealed who we are today. I believe that if 911 showed us anything, it showed us what we look like. It revealed a church more influenced by her Western Culture, than a western Culture influenced by her. It showed us that we were wealthy, full, blessed and very un-prepared. If 911 taught us anything, we learned that in a tragedy people naturally reach out to God. The unfortunate thing was that when people were reaching out for God, His representatives were not ready. We quite possible missed one of the greatest outreach opportunities in the history of this nation. Before 911 a bird’s eye view of the church would reveal much. Much activity was normal with conferences, summits, roundtables, and simulcasts covering every subject imaginable. Bible Schools, Training Centers and Seminaries were experiencing unprecedented growth and Christian software, internet sites, study tools, and Christian books were as easy to obtain as breathing. Building projects, campaigns and church construction were commonplace. But, with all of the technology, money, media coverage, and book sales, when America wept, the church slept.

I would love to tell you that Pastor James Norris was ready for what was about to happen. But he was not. Even the research and book writing he had done on the subject of tragedy and being there when we are needed failed in magnitude to what our country was going through. Jim found him self much like most of the other ministers in this country. A part from a few organized prayer services and giving out social aide, most churches simply just did not have the structure, systems or the know how of what to do. It was a tragedy in itself. I believe that is the reason that the average in church attendance across our country is now lower after 911 than it was before. Seminaries, Bible Schools and Ministry Training Centers are simply not training their graduates to deal with human hurts from a structural and systems point of view. We learn how to teach, and we are producing great preachers, yet for all of the teaching and preaching there is still very little fathering taking place in the local church.

We need Spiritual Fathers!

Written by Douglas Crumbly