Less Than Equal

My parents were both very insistent on the traditions of Congregationalism. I think on one of those traditions today. My mother said, when she heard that a treasurer had adopted a high profile in the Church, "There is only one person who is less than equal in the Congregational Church. The treasurer." A treasurer, she said, relinquishes all influence, prominence, and authority in the Church, as a matter of grace. OBSERVATION: The reasons, as usual, are spiritual. Everything comes back to spiritual reasons in the Church -- and the spiritual reasons, in turn, deeply influence the reality of the Church. In my own Congregational Churches, the Constitution has required, "The Treasurer shall retire biennially" -- one of only two persons expected to do so, although he or she could be re-elected.