Trespasses or Debts
Story★★★Two congregations were located only a few blocks from each other in a small community. They thought it might be better if they merged and became one united body, larger and more effective, rather than two struggling churches. Good idea… but they weren’t able to pull it off. The problem? They couldn’t agree on how they should recite the Lord’s Prayer. One group wanted “forgive us our trespasses,” while the other demanded “forgive us our debts.” A newspaper reported that one church went back to its trespasses while the other returned to its debts.
The point
Two small congregations fail to merge because they cannot agree whether to pray 'forgive us our trespasses' or 'our debts,' each returning to what a newspaper wryly called its own trespasses or debts.