In the midst of our church’s efforts to reimagine itself, I am wondering if one important, and fairly obvious issue is being overlooked: capacity. I do a fair amount of work with dioceses around the church, and what I find, again and again, is that most parishes simply lack the financial and human resources to take on the jobs that would seem to be essential in rejuvenating themselves.
The average congregation is small, many can barely afford a full time priest, and most rely on volunteers to do jobs that are becoming increasingly complex and specialized and that require a working knowledge of technology. Volunteers with the right kinds of backgrounds for this work are not thick on the ground, and training costs money.
Read Full Article »