Wednesday, July 01, 2009

the downside of packaging

I recently blogged about the importance of the packaging. However, as Paul expresses it so poetically in 2 Corinthians 4, faith is always found in earthen vessels. In other words, the beauty of the message is always carried in fumbling human attempts.

So the downside of paying attention to the packaging, is the list I mentally compiled after a Sunday in the foyer.

In essence: Pastor, we need to pay attention to the following “earthen” packaging:
– warmer church please
– followup the dedication please
– make amends for a service mistake please
– address the confusion over after-church coffee please
– take more control of worship please
– take less control of worship please
– visit some newcomers possibly

All feedback gained at the door at Sunday. All good and important. All worthy of time and attention. It’s great that people care.

But can I be honest (Can I say this on my blog? What will my “church readers” think! Hopefully they’ll be reading the header, “all thoughts personal and provisional” :)!)

and say I don’t. That the list actually causes me to shrivel. It’s not that I don’t care about the idea and the person who gives it. It’s just that, well, the detail of that list drives me crazy.

To use the Pixar example, I’m more naturally wired to be part of the Pixar creative team than to be the person to run the organisation and do the quality control. Their is an organisational part of church life that drives me crazy. (Can I really say this on my blog? What will my “church readers” think! Hopefully they’ll be reading the header, “all thoughts personal and provisional” :)!)

And the more a church grows, the more that organisational thing intrudes. Every new initiative – community ministry or trust or collective or ministry flu pack – demands more organisational and detailed packaging.

So it’s one thing to value the packaging. And I do. It’s quite another to do something about it, let alone to get it right.

Posted by steve at 02:02 PM

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.