Comments by a rural pastor from the Pacific Northwest on the "Almond Glen Development" episode:

Charlotte has proven to be a kind and thoughtful pastor, in previous episodes, whose ultimate goal is to do the will of God through leading and caring for her congregation. By her own admission, she has made mistakes, but has had the courage to analyze and has attempted to rectify them. She now faces two new problems, the irate parishioner who threatens to leave the church, and the subtle but often dangerous world of secular politics.

In this episode, The Almond Glen Development, Charlotte effectively deals with one of the most difficult, and unfortunately, most common situations in ministry, the threat by a parishioner of their leaving due to the actions of another brother or sister within the church.

The first thing she does after her parishioner, Ansel Richards rudely bursts into her study ranting about how a fellow parishioner "stabbed him in the back," is to take control of the situation by telling him to wait and clarify what he is saying. She demonstrates one of the great characteristics of leadership, an ability not to appear intimidated by the aggression of others. After he says a few words, she then affirms him by telling him that she understands that he is upset, but seems to be very careful to make no judgment on what he is actually saying before more clearly understanding the situation. She gently probes deeper by asking, "Why do you think you have to leave the church?" Because of Charlotte's kind but firm inquiry, Ansel, an environmentalist, opens up to her and explains how betrayed he feels from learning that someone whom he trusted within the church has taken part in the pending sale to housing developers of a huge tract of beautiful, tree covered land surrounding the town. Ansel assumes that his pastor knew all about the land deal before he ever talked to her, but Charlotte is an honest person and explains to him that she knew nothing about the property transaction. Her sincerity builds a bond of trust with Ansel that is now so great, he talks with her for over an hour and decides not to leave the church. Arguing over whether Ansel was correct in his position was not what was most important in this encounter. Charlotte could have taken sides, but she didn't. She knew that what was most important in this situation was the care of Ansel himself. Ansel needed to know that his pastor was there for him, and that she would not abandon him.

The question arises, "how much should a pastor be involved politically within his or her community?" Charlotte has made a bold, yet potentially dangerous move in "heartily endorsing" Laura Webber to the town council. Although Charlotte knows that she herself idolizes Dr. Davis who was one of the three men who hired her for her current pastoral position, she doesn't seem to see how the development minded, very intelligent, community patriarch may be manipulating her. He first reminds her that she is the first public woman in the history of the town and based upon her success he is now willing to support another woman in leadership. If Charlotte is like most pastors, she is eager to hear positive words from a parishioner, but this parishioner may be using Charlotte's virtuous desire for women to be equally represented in powerful positions of authority for his own ends. Whenever a pastor actively endorses a candidate for secular position, he or she is forever connected to that public servant in the minds of the people. If Laura Webber makes a controversial or even an inappropriate decision, Charlotte's credibility in the community as a minister to all the people may be jeopardized in the minds of many. Charlotte is a courageous and caring pastor, but like us all, she runs into difficulties when faced with the complexities of our world.