any of the questions she asked me,

and made me wonder if you ever tried to answer those questions,

and if you did, I found myself wondering what you said

to try to answer those questions.

I’m not suggesting you did anything wrong, or any of what happened was your fault

WIFE

oh no, I know

PASTOR

I’m just curious.

WIFE

No.

She never asked me any of those questions.

PASTOR

and have others—?

WIFE

have others what—?

PASTOR

asked those questions or similar questions

to the questions Jenny asked—

have other women in your Women’s Bible Study group,

ya know, since I delivered that sermon,

have others come to you with

similar questions

and concerns?

WIFE

Yes.

PASTOR

And what do you tell them?

WIFE

I tell them that if they have questions about something you’ve

said,

then they should ask you,

not me.

PASTOR

oh, okay.

WIFE

Because I don’t want to put words in your mouth

PASTOR

oh sure,

thank you, I, no, yeah, that’s—I appreciate that,

but I was also thinking,

maybe you could—

I wouldn’t mind if you

fielded some of those questions, I

wouldn’t take it as you putting words in my

mouth, I think it helps to hear answers coming from you,

not just from me, it shows

that we’re in this together.

WIFE

right

PASTOR

and you’re such a gifted communicator

WIFE

thank you

PASTOR

And I think

if you were to speak

to the women in your group,

it could do a lot to help,

to help them see the value

in what I’m talking about.

I think it could help keep

more people from leaving the church—

it’s startin’ to feel sorta like our church has sprung a leak

WIFE

you want me to help plug up the leak

PASTOR

I could help you, prepare a message for you,

show you the verses that will help them understand

what I’m saying.

WIFE

… but what if it’s better that the people who are leaving just go ahead and leave if they’re not inclined to go along with the change

PASTOR

I think they just don’t understand the change

WIFE

what is there to understand?

PASTOR

I don’t want people to leave

WIFE

there were some you wanted to see go

PASTOR

of course not

WIFE

you were happy to see Joshua go

PASTOR

okay well

WIFE

you’ve been wanting him to leave for a long time,

you and Joshua had been preaching different things.

PASTOR

it was a problem that needed fixing

WIFE

and those 50 who sided with him,

those 50 who sided with Joshua,

you were also happy to see them go.

Come on now, admit it.

PASTOR

in order for a tree to grow

some pruning is necessary

WIFE

an amputation so that the rest of the body doesn’t get infected.

PASTOR

yeah, it’s sorta like that.

WIFE

you’re saying that absolute tolerance requires intolerance of the intolerant.

PASTOR

It depends on the circumstances.

WIFE

So—