I have a wee rant, my dears.
Just this: none of us has enough time to do everything our ministries require of us. Why, then, do we feel entitled to use each other as publicists for our congregation’s events or programs? This is not the job of the clergy, and while sharing of resources and connectional spirit are great, expecting ministers to pimp community events is unfair and exploitative.
I get so many e-mails from all over my district asking me to “encourage participation” at this event or that, that I have gotten to the point of being exhausted even opening such missives. I can barely differentiate any longer between district events to which I DO feel obligated to encourage my lay leaders to attend and just PR pieces about everything from mission trips to informational luncheons (often in the guise of “thanking our neighbors”) to arts events. Too much going on. Too much, and while much of it sounds great and exciting, it’s just not my responsibility to barrage people with these invitations.
The Church should rely less on e-mail and more on relationships. I am much more likely to naturally speak with enthusiasm about an event if I feel personally connected to it and its organizers.
I hereby grant us all permission to not feel in the least bit obligated to work as publicists for every event happening within a 50-mile radius of us, unless we are personally involved in the organization promoting the event. That should save us all a lot of guilt and busy work.
A-MEN.
I get really tired of the thousand and one events I’m asked to publicize… The more I publicize, the more it becomes just white noise to my congregation. People are busy enough – they don’t need one more fundraiser/pancake breakfast/strawberry festival/outreach dinner/bingo night, and it isn’t my job to advertise it.
Thank you! Just needed these words today.
🙂
Ridiculous. You need a communal calendar: anyone who has an event posts it, and if someone is looking for something to do, they check the calendar. No plugging needed.
Amen, indeed! And I think churches should be thoughtful about what they publicize if they choose to.
Our church has put notices in our newsletter about some pretty extreme Christian events i.e. conferences run by foaming-mouthed activitists. They don’t seem to realise that putting it in the newsletter is endorsing it to some degree, and sending messages about the culture and beliefs of our church.
There is a large bulletin board in our narthex. Any such event announcements are posted there, and a simple reminder to check that board is all the promotion we do. I am blessed by a secretary with the gift of discernment. She processes all of these requests, and only involves me when necessary.
I agree that people ARE busy, and I hesitate to dilute the effectiveness of announcements and my flock’s energy. Particularly as we head into Advent and Christmas worship, and our community outreach accelerates with community meals, food pantry, and family housing.
Amen. I felt pimpish from day one on internship when asked to hawk *BRIGHT SMILE* this great event that I know you’ll all want to go to… And that was just the stuff going on in the big church I was training at. Didn’t we get into this profession because we wanted to be more authentic and whole-hearted human beings?
@Susan: you are blessed, indeed. I’ve always said that in any church, if you’re bored and want to pick a fight, bring up how, when, and where you do announcements.