I came upon this quote and I felt a real kindredness with it. Maybe because I do love the endless immensity of the sea, but probably because I think it stands in opposition to many of the Church Strategies of the day.
“If you want to build a ship,
don't drum up people together to collect wood
and don't assign them tasks and work,
but rather teach them to yearn
for the endless immensity of the sea.”
Antoine de Saint-Exuperay
In my previous life, we used to discuss how to "assimilate" new people into the church (no we were not the Borg). We looked at visitor cards, talked about demographics, tried to figure out which pastor had the best shot at making contact with the person/family and what approach they should take to connect them with the church. We loved to "drum up people" with a special service, promoting a new series, etc. Once we had them drummed, we tried to connect them to something. Get them involved with kids ministry, or the choir, or in a Sunday School class.
This served two purposes: 1 - if we put them to work, we had them. They weren't going anywhere because they had now made a commitment. 2 - we were almost always in desprerate need of children's workers, choir members, or better numbers for our Bible studies.
Unfortunately, I think many felt trapped. Church was now an obligation and a responsibility. It was, for some, no longer something they looked forward to, but a drudgery. I remember particularly how difficult it was to get musicians and singers for the Sunday evening service. For most, at least in that context, Sunday night church was not an option for younger people (under 40). With school the next day, many wanted to spend the time with family. Only about 10-20% of the church actually came back for the service, so it was quite anti-climactic and difficult to make the sale on why we even did it.
Of course the quote above is a bit idealistic. At some point, someone does have to gather wood, and make plans and assign tasks. But I think it speaks to the motivation behind the work. Is it done out of a drudgery or is it through the energy of hope and expecation. A community that together yearns for the sea and is unified in their motivation and work. I think this is the better way. Why are we "building the ship" in the first place?
3 comentarios:
Very beautifully said. I know the whole process you described leaves me tired just reading about it, and it's not because I'm lazy or I don't want to work. It's because the purpose in the doing is off. I think you are right all the way around. Maybe if we spent more time on the "why" it wouldn't be about drudgery but passion. I so do not miss leadership meetings, etc.
Mike, you and I both know the drudgery of gathering wood and assigning tasks (seems we worked at the same church, just 800 miles apart). Of course, we also know the yearning. Thank God that we decided to follow the yearning. Life at sea is good.
Well, you know, the 'sacred cow' finally got killed about 6-7 months before we left. The powers that be gave in to the fact that it didn't make sense to heat/cool a giant building for the 30 people who showed up on Sunday nights. (Of course, 15 of those were staff/singers/musicians.)
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