tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5044820951794078204.post9100404577885901854..comments2023-10-30T05:38:45.028-07:00Comments on The Infusion: Pre-stewardship drive discussion starterLKThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05791517233920008067noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5044820951794078204.post-70832681097080368682010-09-03T09:32:17.281-07:002010-09-03T09:32:17.281-07:00Thank you, LKT!Thank you, LKT!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5044820951794078204.post-64408072897635232222010-09-02T17:11:11.287-07:002010-09-02T17:11:11.287-07:00I guess I'd better post those promised thought...I guess I'd better post those promised thoughts, then! I should start by thinking them, I suppose.<br /><br />I did post a comment on the article itself; I'll start by posting that. <br /><br />I think the main thing I don't like about the quote--and it's maybe not even "don't like"--but his perception of church is a complete mismatch to my perception. I have no idea if he's a churchgoer or not, but I find it hard to fathom that anyone who is deeply involved in a church sees it as a creative fundraising force. <br /><br />Well, anyway...I'll start with the comment I posted and go from there.LKThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05791517233920008067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5044820951794078204.post-32625785651196312702010-09-02T14:16:31.525-07:002010-09-02T14:16:31.525-07:00I am so looking forward to your promised thoughts ...I am so looking forward to your promised thoughts because I have so many of my own!<br /><br />I liked the original article - especially its optimistic view about how much money we might be able to raise to alleviate various forms of human suffering.<br /><br />I'm not crazy about this quote, though, and I've been trying to figure out why. I'm not sure I have the answer, but here are some possibilities:<br /><br />1. I don't think of going to church as getting a message - I think of going to church as creating a community. I enjoy a good sermon and I love the liturgy - but the sacraments are what matter most to me most of the time.<br /><br />2. Even if the church is really just spending hour after hour, week after week, trying to give me and others a message - I don't think the message we're getting is always about giving to it and to others. Myself, I care more about the sermons that promise light out of darkness, hope out of despair, peace out of conflict, etc., etc. World prosperity out of world hunger is part of that, but not the only part. Riches out of poverty is part of that, but not the biggest part. <br /><br />3. I remember loving the original Minnesota campaign posters for the Episcopal church when I was in college in Illinois - "He came to take away your sins, not your mind," they promised, and the congregation that used them in its campus paper drew me to church 1 1/2 hours travel time each way for the fellowship I found there. That's not the only message the church offers either, of course - but its one powerful alternative to this author's proposed "be charitable, both to your religious institutions and to humanity in general."<br /><br />4. I know the church needs to exist in the real world. It needs to market, solicit, cultivate donors, raise funds - it must, as Paul already had it almost two thousand years ago, be all things to all men in order that it may by all means save some. This article is good at talking about the marketing, solicitation, donor cultivation, and fund-raising pieces of the puzzle - but what about the salvation?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com