Follow the Fish

Personal Shrine, Paniqui Philippines. I've been visiting a small town church near me, and liked it for what it is: a small, dying place. No band. No projectors. A tiny, 100 year-old place that at most would fit 100 people, and even that would be iffy because there's only one toilet. The pastors who've been there the whole time I've been going -- maybe a year? -- are leaving, and the congregation has been looking for a replacement. Today, we had a guest speaker, who I learned was the only pastor of the four they talked to who was interested in the job, because it's part time and has no benefits. After church, they asked him to step outside and we held a vote. (This is how congregational churches operate.) I was reluctant to participate. I'd only been there a short time, and I hadn't seen any other candidates. They told me there were none, and the current pastors (a married couple, both pastors) are leaving in a month. I said, in a smily way but not really joking, "That's a terrible way…