Fisher Of Men

By Kimberly Purcell

Being young and head rector of a small, struggling church is challenging enough, but this is Father Fisher Ertl's first time as head rector. When he gets troubling news from home - his younger brother, Drake has been arrested for vandalism and possible robbery. What, if anything, can he do from half-way across the country? Will his sister, Fiona, who is Drake's guardian, be able to overcome her doubts to help Drake through this dark time? How will Father Fisher Ertl balance the troubles at home with learning his new role and the parishioners at the church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kimberly Purcell
• Release date: Jan 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463203071

Kimberly Purcell

I pay my bills by working as an administrative assistant for the Wauwatosa School District. I've been there for over a decade. My free time is spent working on my house that I share with my sister and best friend Karen, who is also my biggest fan. I have an associates degree (almost) in Building Preservation, that I received from Belmont Technical College. I spent five years in Chicago. Three years as a student and two years as a full-time employee at Moody Bible Institute. Charles and Ivy Green were born in Chicago more than 20 years ago and have been simmering on the back burner since then, when I'd occasionally bring them out and stir them up, add some spices or herbs. It came to a full boil in 2013 when I took the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers Month) challenge and finally put it all down into my computer.

Book preview

Fisher Of Men

Kimberly A. Purcell

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2020 Kimberly A Purcell

Discover other titles by Kimberly A. Purcell

The Day the Ivy Fell

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Other Books by Kimberly A. Purcell

Sneak peek of Fisher Of Men And Women

Chapter 1

Fisher pulled his car to the curb, parked and got out. The excitement of touring the rectory pulsated throughout his entire body making him feel as if all his senses were heightened. The spring breeze raised goose flesh on his arms. He was sure he could smell all the flowers individually.

Margaret Boyd and Michael Raines, (the senior and junior wardens respectively) waited on the sidewalk. They greeted Fisher enthusiastically. Father Ertl, we’re so excited you’re here. They said in unison. Each shook his hand vigorously. We’re really looking forward to what you’re going to bring to our church and community. Margaret said as she guided him toward the rectory. She was small in stature, but not in presence. Her royal blue tailored suit fit her perfectly and complimented her white hair and fair skin.

I pray God will use me to bring Him glory. Fisher replied humbly.

Well, shall we go through the house? Michael directed them to the side door and unlocked it. He handed the keys to Fisher with a smile and led the way in. Michael was a wiry man, not overly tall, but lanky. He looked like he was the model for Flat Stanley.

As you can see the door leads right into the kitchen. It’s not a large kitchen and certainly not fancy, but it’s functional. Margaret gestured to the white galley style kitchen.

That’s ok. I can work anywhere. Fisher laughed.

To the left here is a formal dining room. It used to be two rooms, a smaller dining room and a tiny maid’s room. But back in the seventies they combined the two. Michael opened the door to the very formal looking room. As Fisher stepped into the room, he noted it looked and smelled as though it hadn’t been used since the seventies either. But it was a beautiful room, even if stuck in a time warp. The dining table was long and covered with a cream-colored brocade in fine condition, which felt old as he brushed his hand gently over it. All ten chairs were upholstered in the same fabric, but showed their age. The fabric was thin and there were areas where they had been snagged. Below the chair rail on the wall was solid textured wallpaper, which Fisher couldn’t decide if it was brown or purple. Above the chair rail the wall was painted. But, again, he couldn’t decide if it was cream colored or white that hadn’t aged well. The chandelier was a too large and overly ornate crystal concoction that had probably been donated by some well-meaning parishioner hoping to add a bit of class to this little house.

After taking it all in Fisher turned to the two wardens who seemed pleased, he’d taken so long to look at the room. They nodded to each other and led the way back to the kitchen.

Just under the stairs here, Michael opened a door directly across from the entry door, is a small half bath that was also added in the seventies. Fisher looked in and saw the avocado green toilet and sink. He tried desperately to not let the grimace show on his face. The sink and toilet might not have been so bad on their own, but the wallpaper, with its metallic gold and silver leaves all over it made him dizzy.

Margaret directed them through the kitchen to the living room. This is the living room. We purchased new furniture for you as the previous collection had seen much better days.

It’s very nice. Thank you. Blue is one of my favorite colors. Fisher entered the room and perused the cozy, but not overly small room. The walls were painted a deep blue. The sofa was a soft blue chenille. The side chairs were a blue and yellow plaid. The coffee table was an arts and crafts style. The carpeting was brown and tan speckled Berber. To the right was a door. That is the front door, Michael explained. But it hasn’t been used in decades. There were three double hung windows with blue and yellow plaid curtains, one on the same wall as the front door and two on the wall across from the kitchen.

And this leads to the second floor. Michael pointed to the open stairs to the left and led the way up, followed by Margaret, then Fisher. At the top of the stairs was a small landing and open hall to their right. There were three doors. Michael opened the first. It led to a small bedroom that just barely fit a twin bed and a dresser, but the window beside the bed looked out onto the back of the house right through the tree branches. Fisher thought it felt like he was in a tree house. The room was pale green and smelled like they had finished painting it yesterday.

Michael directed them to the next door. This is the full bath. He opened the door and Fisher stepped around Michael to enter. It was a sizable white and black bathroom, with a tub and a separate shower. There was also a large linen cabinet supplied with many more towels than he could possibly ever use.

This is very nice.

Margaret smiled, Jean would be very pleased to hear that. She was a long-time parishioner, who passed on just as we lost our last rector. She said we had to redo the bathroom, or we would never be able to keep a decent rector again. She left just enough money in her will to redo this room for you.

Fisher looked up and said, Thanks Jean. I actually like a good soak in a tub every now and then.

Michael directed them to the next door at the end of the hall. He opened it with a flourish, as if he hoped this room to be the piece de resistance, and let Fisher enter on his own. The walls were painted a burnished gold, the carpet a deep gold with black and brown flecks. There was a queen-sized bed whose linens were red with gold swirls over it. The accent pillows were solid red and solid gold. There was a black tall dresser on the wall opposite the door and lower bureau on the same wall as the door to the right. There was a black night stand on either side of the bed with a lamp on each with lamp shades made from the same fabric as the bedding. There was a window on either side of the tall dresser which were covered by solid red drapes. Fisher went over to see what view he’d have from his room. They both looked out on to the school across the street.

He turned and smiled at Michael and Margaret, when he noticed the closet on the fourth wall. It covered the whole wall in two parts. He’d never have enough clothes to fill even one side. He opened the one side to find it wasn’t a closet but a compact home office with a desk, computer, printer/scanner, bulletin board, small shelf and chair.

We figured you’d do most of your work over at the church office, but thought it would be good to have a place here at the rectory where you could also work, Margaret said with a nod. And when we learned you were unmarried, we thought you certainly wouldn’t need all the closet space. She smiled sheepishly at this confession.

Fisher laughed and went to the other closet door and opened it to reveal a closet with two levels, perfect for pants and shirts and suit coats. He only had two suit coats. He was a more casual guy, but he did wear the collar when he was officially on duty, so most of the time.

What do you think? asked Michael.

It’s more than I could have hoped for.

Michael and Margaret nodded to each other at this and led them out of the room when Fisher noticed a door opposite his bedroom door. It was about three-foot square. What’s this? he asked of Michael.

I forget about that. It’s just a storage room. One of those under the eaves crawl space type rooms.

Oh. I was hoping for a secret room filled with hidden treasure.

Michael and Margaret looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

I’m just kidding. I figured it was a storage room. I just thought with a church with such history as this one, maybe, just maybe, there were some mysteries along with the buildings.

No, sorry Father Ertl, with St Chrysostom’s what you see is what you get. Margaret reassured.

We shall see about that, thought Fisher as he followed the two wardens down the stairs.

Oh, we stocked the kitchen with the staples, flour, sugar, salt, rice, some canned soups, etc. And there are plenty of utensils and dishes. Michael opened several cabinets and drawers to show Fisher.

Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to getting my bearings here. I have some boxes with me and a few more I’ll bring over later.

Do you need help moving these in? Michael asked.

Oh no, it’s just some of my personal things I’ll need right away. I’ll call when I move the other stuff in. Like I said, it’s not much, but as the saying goes many hands make light work.

Oh, here is the key to the church, said Michael handing him one key. It works in all the doors. It’s a master so don’t lose it.

Fisher shook hands with both Michael and Margaret. I’ll see you both next Sunday. They nodded and got into their respective vehicles; Margaret’s, a white older model Audi that looked like it was well cared for and Michael’s, a new red Ford F150 with a decal on the side, which read Bladeswidth Enterprises with phone numbers and address. Fisher thought, business must be good. His company probably did all the work in the house. He turned to look at the house. Well Lord, You placed me here. May the work You have for me to do here bring You the glory You deserve. He sighed contentedly, opened the hatch back of his Honda Civic and trekked the boxes and suit cases into the house, wishing he’d accepted Michael’s offer to help, even if there were only five boxes and two suit cases.

He’d unpack after finding something to eat and walking the neighborhood.

*********

The sun was already low in the sky when Fisher finally got to his walk, so he decided to grab a jacket. The weather in southeastern Wisconsin in early May can be temperamental. He went out the kitchen door and turned to face the street. Left or right, he thought, turning left away from the church. Better to end up with the church.

It was a mixed neighborhood of houses, duplexes, apartment buildings, and businesses. The church and rectory took up one whole block and shared a parking lot with the elementary school across the street. The next block was two apartment buildings that looked like eight to twelve units each depending on how deep each apartment was. On the next block was an old Presbyterian Church, well at least the building was old, most likely the same congregation had occupied the building the whole time. The cornerstone of the building said 1872. Fisher’s second passion was old churches and hoped to some day tour Europe exploring the nooks and crevices of the Grande Dames and not so grand ancient church buildings, but for now he would settle for churches built in 1872 right here in the mid-west. He’d have to make acquaintances with the minister of First Presbyterian Church.

He decided to turn at the church to take it all in from the outside. But the sun was also sinking fast. He’d have to get a better feel for the neighborhood another day. The Presbyterian Church took up its whole block also with a parking lot on the backside. So, he walked quickly past that parking area to the next block that was a four-unit apartment building and parking area for all three of the buildings on that block. He then came to the back side of the school with a playground area and the parking the church shared with the school. Then of course the rectory and his church. Ah! His church. Finally, he was the sole rector of a church. Could he really handle the responsibility of leading these souls to God? Certainly not without God leading him. He stopped in front of the church. The sun was taking a short rest on the horizon before sinking to bed for the evening. He could see it peeking around the corner of the church as if to say, ‘Who does this guy think he is?’ then it slid slowly beyond the horizon. Fisher watched as the church building fell into silhouette. Thank You Lord for trusting me enough to give me this great responsibility. May I not let You down. And may I always remember, it’s Your will, not mine. He looked up just in time to see the last ray of sun light falter as the street lights came on so he headed to the rectory. Time to get acclimated to my new home, he thought.

************

6:00AM Fisher woke with a start. He glanced at the clock and wondered what had woken him. Six was his normal wake up time; he never needed an alarm. He got out of bed, knelt beside it praying the prayer he’d been praying since high school, when he’d found his calling: Father, help me not get in Your way today. He got up, took the chair from the office and placed it in front of the window. He picked up his prayer book from the bedside table, sat down and read the morning office for today. Normally he’d do this in the sanctuary, but since he wouldn’t be officially starting until Monday, he read it here. When he said, Amen his mind went back to what had startled him awake. It was probably new sounds. You aren’t used to the new neighbors. It is Friday, maybe someone gets to the school building by six and you heard them and thought you’d slept in for once. That’s it – the new sounds of the neighborhood.

Fisher did his morning ablutions, dressed and went to the kitchen. He fried a couple of eggs. He’d need to go shopping for some cereal, so much easier, and some other ‘necessities’. But not until after he got the rest of his boxes, most of which will have to go to the church office since they were mostly books and there certainly wasn’t room in this cozy little place for many books. When he finished eating his breakfast, he rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, hoping it had a light load mode, or it would take him forever to get a load to make it worth his while to run the thing. Fortunately, there was. He put the dishes from last night’s supper in also. Every other day to run the thing should work.

Fiona, his sister, had trained him well to be independent, especially after she’d learned God had called him to be a priest --- she’d thought he’d meant to be a Catholic priest, and at the time he wasn’t really sure himself. His family had never been religious. He could remember going to church on Christmas Eve and maybe an occasional Easter, but he didn’t remember what kind of church it was. God was always an elusive topic in the Ertl household. Mom and dad had used it as a way to make the children behave, like Be careful God is always watching. or God wouldn’t like how you’re treating your baby brother Drake, right now. But Fisher had always had an affinity toward God even though he wasn’t completely sure what to think of him. Now here he was standing in the kitchen of the rectory of St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church – his rectory – trying to figure out how often he would run his dishwasher. They didn’t train you for those kinds of decisions at seminary. Thanks, Fiona, for training me to be an independent man.

***********

The last box from his storage shed fit nicely into the back of his Civic. This car had gotten him through high school, college and seminary and his first assignment at The Church of The Ascension in Chicago. And now it was taking him and all his belongings to his first church of his own. He patted the black roof and climbed into the driver’s side. Father, thank You again for this opportunity. I’m so excited, I’m afraid I’ll get myself into trouble by not remembering that You placed me here. I’m afraid I’ll want to start taking control. Help me to always remember, I am just Your tool in Your grand scheme of things. This is not my church, but Yours. This is not my plan, but Yours. You called me and all I have to do is follow. He nodded his head, started the little black Civic and drove to the church.

He was little more than half way through the last load when his cell phone rang. It was Margaret Boyd.

Father, I know you don’t officially start until Monday, but Lucy Schweisberger fell this morning and broke her hip. She is a cradle St. Chrysostomite and would really appreciate it if you went over to the hospital to pray with her.

Sure, in which hospital is she?

She’s just up at Community Memorial, practically in our back yard.

I’ll go right over.

Thank you, Father. I know she’ll be grateful.

Fisher went into the office and turned on the computer. After logging on, he Googled Community Memorial. It was indeed in his back yard. He could have walked over, but that would have been a bit of trek, so he printed the directions, and headed for the car when he realized he wasn’t wearing his collar. What would be better – to take the time to change into the collar for this cradle Episcopalian or to rush over right now? He always carried his credentials in his wallet so being allowed admittance wasn’t the issue. He decided time was of the essence.

He parked the Civic and entered the front doors of the hospital and approached the reception desk.

Hi, my name is Father Ertl. I have a parishioner here by the name of Lucy Schweisberger. He pulled out his wallet and showed the woman his card.

Oh Father! My name is Janice Morrissey. I’m a member of St. Chrysostom’s also. I thought you weren’t starting until Monday though.

I’m not. But Mrs. Boyd asked me to come over and pray with Ms. Schweisberger.

She’s a sneaky one, Mrs. Boyd.

What do you mean?

You’ll find out. Janice typed on her computer and said, Lucy’s in room 304. Follow the red line to the elevators and to the third floor. Stop at the desk there and they will direct you from there.

Fisher started down the hall, when Janice called to him.

Father, you should have taken the time to put your collar on.

When he got to the elevator, he looked down at himself. Jeans and a t-shirt. He should have taken