It arrived in the mail yesterday, a glossy pamphlet equivalent to four 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of paper. We're in good shape financially (for once), bucking the national trend of donations being down 2% with ours being up 10%. That page looked good, and it often has looked bad.
But what struck me was a column estimating the number of people involved in getting it all done. How many people in music, how many servers, how many fish fry workers, and so forth. And it was surprisingly small. I do so many things at church that I guess I just didn't realize how many people don't. We have 501 families officially, and I know many of the numbers listed are the same people again and again (I assume I'm counted in children's liturgy and art & environment and worship commission, for instance). I stared and stared at those numbers.
It's not like a private school, where you can mandate volunteer hours. And it's not a family where everyone is expected to pitch in. I guess being a member of a church doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. I know I've waxed and waned in my involvement, mostly based on how old my oldest child at the time was, but I've always had at least a thread connecting me to that place. I think about the people on my block, and I suppose not all of them are involved in their congregations either. But the ones who are, it just so happens, are the ones I'm closest to. The emerging church family two doors down is very involved, and Leo's godmother is an elder at her Presbyterian church. Marla and her husband belong to my church and volunteer here and there--I think she's testing the waters slowly (she moved over to us when her parish became a Latin Mass Reservation). Another neighbor was very involved with the Jesuits at our local university, although I'm not sure what their plan is right now--but I know it's important. I don't know. I guess those who check off the list (Mass, communion, first out of the parking lot) each Sunday just don't have as much in common with me as I wish they did.
But then, why bother joining at all? I mean, some folks are certainly homebound, and others maybe have language barriers or time constraints--but we all have time constraints. What does it take to bring someone in?
Conversations with Middle Schoolers #55
9 years ago
2 comments:
The only thing I have found effective is when someone personally asks someone else who they already have an established relationship with to participate. Announcements in the bulletin go ignored. Even casual conversation can be forgotten or pushed aside with an excuse. But if a good friend tells another friend that they think it's a good idea, then the response is much higher.
But on a separate note, I think the outlook of churches, sadly, is changing. People no longer look to church as a place to serve, but rather a place to BE served. What do *I* get out of church? How does going to church benefit *ME*? People forget to ask God what He wants of them. Or, maybe they don't forget but they just don't want to oblige anymore. I dunno. That's what I think. And I've had my periods of not obliging too. Maybe everyone waxes and wanes. Maybe it's just cyclical.
You're right, I think, about the changing attitude. Even our bishop has sort of changed how to view stewardship, from the typical "time, talent, and treasure" to "prayer, participation, and payback." Yeah, alliteration is nice, but the "payback" drives me nuts. We don't pay the church. We tithe because that's what we should do. Payback makes it sound like if we don't get anything out of church, we don't owe anything.
Post a Comment