John,
That is an interesting solution, but I don't know if the people would 
go for it.  They would say, "it's a church!  It's supposed to have 
Christian symbles."  I'll pass the suggestion along though.  I still 
wish that we'd just move the things out.
Kathy


At 06:07 PM 4/23/2006, you wrote:
>Kathy, I don't know why we need a Christian flag to show our 
>commitment to Him.  I think, substitute the Christian flag with the 
>Maine state flag and give the honored place to the American 
>flag.  This may keep peace and I think peace is what is needed.
>
>earlier, Kathy Du Bois, wrote:
>>Hi Guys,
>>         Well, it looks like Greg and I might be in a bit of the 
>> thick of it again.  Unfortunately, it isn't because of doctrine or 
>> anything like that, it's over the position of the flags in our 
>> church.  It would be interesting to see if you guys have anything 
>> to say about it.
>>         The Bangor area is pretty military.  Our airport doubles 
>> as a civilian airport and a military base.  We have the longest 
>> runway in  the country, so I'm told because of this union.  Many 
>> of the troops who are either flying overseas, or returning home, 
>> go through Bangor Maine.  We have a group of people, in the area, 
>> who have established themselves as troop greeters to give them a 
>> warm American send off or welcome no matter what time the military 
>> plane arrives, day or night.  A few of the members of our 
>> congregation participate in this.  Hopefully, this helps to set 
>> the stage for what blew up today.
>>           The church has always had two flags in the front of the 
>> sanctuary.  One is the American flag and one is the Christian 
>> flag.  In flag protocol, established by the military in the early 
>> 1800s, the flag of the highest honor is supposed to be positioned 
>> to the right of the speaker.  In a church, this would mean to the 
>> right of the pastor.  Well, this protocol was established before 
>> the Christian flag was even created so it doesn't mention the 
>> Christian flag or how to deal with it at all.  Some pastors have 
>> opted to just remove the flags from the sanctuary altogether to 
>> stop the bickering, but our congregation wants the flags to 
>> remain.  This leaves us with an interesting dilemma, which 
>> flag  should receive top honors in a church?
>>         First of all, I will say very emphatically that Greg and I 
>> are both very patriotic.  We love our country and we are grateful 
>> to live here.  We have no interest in protesting the war, or the 
>> military and we never have, but, we believe that Christ should 
>> receive top honor in His sanctuary.  If you go to any of the 
>> offices of government, the court house, the town office, or any 
>> military establishment, such as the V.F.W. or the American Legion, 
>> you won't even see a Christian flag on display  and that is 
>> okay.  We may say that we are one nation under God, but we aren't 
>> and we aren't insisting that the Christian flag appear anywhere 
>> outside the church.  However, as much as I love this country, my 
>> first allegiance is to Christ.  I will protest when my country 
>> becomes immoral, but I will cling to the cross of Christ no matter 
>> who is in earthly power.
>>         Well, at our business meeting, it came up today.  The 
>> veterans among us are all protesting, some threatening to never 
>> come to our church again, because the Christian flag is in the 
>> honored position.  I have to say that most of the congregation 
>> voted in support of Greg, putting Christ first.  Greg had even 
>> talked to an army chaplain on the matter before today and the 
>> chaplain agrees with Greg, but never the less, it's a small town, 
>> so the winds of trouble are blowing again.
>>         When I arrived home, I looked up the first commandment in 
>> Exodus 20:3-6.
>>
>>         You shall have no other gods before me.
>>You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in 
>>heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
>>You shall not bow down to them or worship them;
>>For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children 
>>for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generations of 
>>those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of 
>>those who love me and keep my commandments.
>>
>>I don't know, perhaps I am making too much of the connection, but I 
>>couldn't help but wonder if part of the reason that our society is 
>>so messed up today is because other things, such as flags, have 
>>replaced our love of the one true God in first place in our lives.
>>
>>         Unfortunately, the veterans, in all this, won't hear our 
>> point because of their emotional commitment to the flag.  They see 
>> us in the same way as they saw the Viet Nam protestors of the 60s 
>> and, to be truthful, it is hard for us to respect their commitment 
>> to Christ that they would be willing to break up community over 
>> this.  We have done services in the past honoring the veterans, 
>> but that doesn't seem to be remembered now.
>>Just pray for us Guys.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.
>>Kathy
>
>John