The Devil in Pew Number Seven, by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo

You've probably heard stories of church conflict and embattled pastors.  Chances are, if you've gone to church very long, you've experienced some yourself.  I remember one former pastor of mine describing how every Sunday when he got up to preach, he had to face a contingent on the first row, glaring at him, sending the message that they wanted him gone.  Well I can almost guarantee that you haven't heard stories like the one Rebecca Nichols Alonzo tells in The Devil in Pew Number Seven: A True Story.

Rebecca's father was a pastor in a rural North Carolina church in the 1970s.  Shortly after he took the pulpit, it became clear that one attender, Mr. Watts, the local Henry F. Potter (like the It's a Wonderful Life character), wanted to maintain control of the church.  Most everyone in town owed him money, and he liked to be in charge.  He was not a church member, but was there every Sunday, and his wife was the church clerk.  When, under Rebecca's dad's leadership, the Watts were removed from their positions of influence, they didn't take it well.

That's when the terror began.  Threatening phone calls and letters led to sabotage of the heating and water at the parsonage, and a series of destructive bombings around the parsonage.  Even though no one in the church or community had any doubt that Mr. Watts was behind the threats and terroristic attacks, he was wily enough--and well-connected enough--not to be pinned for any of it.  The terror went on for several years, eventually wearing away Rebecca's father's sanity.

In simple, straightforward prose, Alonzo tells the story and its impact on her and her family.  Although repentance, redemption, and forgiveness finally prevail, I had a feeling of too little too late.  The cover quotes Romans, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."  During all the years of Mr. Watts's persecution of Rebecca's family, her parents stuck by this admonition.  This story is a reminder of just how difficult that can be, yet how redeeming it is in practice.