84/365 Old vs New

The old parish...let one person, Dolores, make the decisions about how the church would look on any given Sunday, mostly because she wouldn't let anyone else have any say. This made them complacent, occasionally mystified by her behavior, but hell, it was easier.

The new parish...has a committee that argues. Sometimes. Other times, depending on Lynn's mood, mostly, it goes well. People feel like they can have input. I encourage it because I don't want to become Dolores, but also because I try to be humble enough to know it isn't all about me.

The old parish...thought for some reason that puke green unhemmed raggy fabric covering dumpster-dived school desks were appropriate for tables in the sanctuary.

The new parish...mocks this. Not everything is perfect, but it isn't sloppy.

The old parish...because of Dolores and her moods, did not engage in any cooperative efforts about art and environment. If you dared to volunteer to water plants, you would find them freshly watered when you arrived to do your job.

The new parish...has a pastor who apologized for buying beautiful plants while I laughed at the idea that it could possibly offend me that someone took the initiative (someone with a clue, that is) to make the place nice.

The old parish...hid beautiful things in storage closets and dragged out poorly made vestments every week.

The new parish...took the beautiful things out to show and threw the bad stuff away.

The old parish...did things the same way every time even if it didn't work right.

The new parish...reevaluates, keeps notes from past years, and thinks about what to change.

The old parish...had this fatalism that they didn't deserve things to be nice.

The new parish...knows better.