Exodus by Laura Cowan

in this.
    Now she understood Mrs. Coghill’s resigned air. There was nothing she could do when the man with the spiritual authority to protect the church had given it up. He was in this up to his blind eyeballs.
    “He was in an accountability group! What more could we do? We need to trust our God-appointed leaders to shepherd the flock, not hound them and spy on them!” The elders were looking at Pastor Ted now for his response.
    “How could I share my struggles in a group when any admission of humanity would put my job on the line?” he asked them, appealing to them with spread arms. “I don’t get days off like you do! I’m tired! I’m human! I’m not even sure what we’re fighting for anymore! When I got into this ministry I had a vision for reaching the lost in our community. Now I just want to go….”
    He scowled at his hands.
    The elders looked wide-eyed at each other.
    “Why didn’t you say anything?” Aria’s dad asked him quietly. “I don’t think any of us had any idea how lonely and burned out you were getting.”
    Pastor Ted stood up and paced the carpet. The fat demon clung to his back like a cloak, mimicking his movements exactly.
    “Say what? To whom?” He raised his voice. “Pastors don’t have the luxury of friends!” He pointed his finger down into a leather ottoman. The demon poked the ottoman with a yellow talon, too.
    Pastor Ted sat down on the ottoman and put his head in his hands. Several elders reached out and touched his shoulders and back, as if to pray. He did not respond.
    “Our pastor needs time and space to heal,” Mr. Bob said finally. “We need to present a unified front to the church, so they know their leadership is still strong for them. None of this can leave this room… Jim.”
    “Look, Bob, I appreciate what you’re saying, but there’s a difference between loving respect and unquestioning loyalty,” Aria’s dad replied, “and just look how much Pastor Ted has benefited from our deference for his spiritual maturity so far.”
    Pastor Ted kept his head in his hands, unmoving. The fat demon wrapped its wings around him again even more tightly.
    “The church congregation isn’t stupid. They know something is wrong, and they deserve to know they have committed themselves to spiritual leadership that lets thievery and adultery go unpunished.”
    “What is it with you and punishment?” Mr. Stauffin objected. “Can’t you see Pastor Ted is hurting? You have always been so judgmental! Stop being so legalistic. Lawyers!” He settled back onto the couch and smiled slightly to himself.
    “Why won’t you think for yourself?” Aria’s dad demanded. “You just go with whatever Pastor Ted says, not even considering how badly he might be manipulating you!”
    “Jim, if we all thought for ourselves, we would all be pastors,” Mr. Stauffin replied. “Some of us need to just be the sheep of Jesus’ fold.”
    “How can you just sweep this under the rug?” Aria’s dad asked. “This is a matter of integrity!”
    “We can’t have a pastor leading us who has had such moral failings!” the skinny elder yelled.
    “We all have moral failings, do we not?” Mr. Stauffin said.
    The skinny elder sat down with a squeak on an office chair by the couch.
    “You should be ashamed of yourself, kicking our leader when he’s down,” Mr. Bob stepped in. He pointed at Aria’s dad. “It’s enough to make one think you want his job.”
    The elders watched him for his reaction.
    “I know, Bob,” he said. “You’re loyal. I get it. And that’s great. Just think about what you’re signing up for here, okay?” He rolled his eyes at Mr. Bob’s unflinching stance and turned to look over the low cabinets that divided the living room from the family room. He gazed out the family room windows into the back yard and shoved his hands in his pockets.
    There were kids in the yard on the other side of the back gate, chasing one another with water guns to relieve the