Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

I’ve been doing church work for a while now. Wednesday marks a decade doing communications for the diocese. And I’ve been married to a priest for almost 15 years.

So you’d think I would learn.

Just because I’m excited about a project does not mean folks will show up and participate.

Working with volunteers is a tricky, unreliable science.

As I shared last week with you, our diocese is launching a project to produce virtual tours of churches – this way seekers can “visit” the church online, hopefully easing anxiety so that they may cross the psychological hurdle from online to actual visitor. We have to divide the project over three budgets, so I worked with our staff to carefully select the first round of 20. We looked at diversity of all kinds, from geographic to congregational size to race. I considered those who were in the midst of transitions and those who have a commitment to a vibrant web presence. I also factored with innovative ministries. Of course, there were some churches with all of those elements that still didn’t make the first list because of its size limitations. Nevertheless, I felt good about the first crop, a respectable cross-section of Episcopal churches in Southern Ohio.
So I sent invitations to a webinar – a virtual meeting – so that participants could learn more about the program, and we could schedule the first rounds of photography shoots. On the day of the webinar, I opened the virtual meeting about 15 minutes early. We expected 25 to 30 participants, and I worried about how to field questions from such a large group.

I worried needlessly. At five minutes after the start time, six people were in attendance (by the end, another three stragglers joined). My heart sank. I had put a lot of energy and passion into getting this project off the ground, and I was disappointed that there wasn’t a groundswell response. 

I muddled through the meeting, and to be fair, those on the call were very excited. But I still felt disappointed at the turnout. As the day wore on, I came to a change of heart. 
When we had announced the meeting earlier in the week, several churches sent e-mails or called, asking to be a part of the project. I explained they weren’t on the round one list. 

After the virtual meeting, I decided it was time to re-calibrate. I had spent all this time trying to craft a list based on important factors, but I forgot one of the most critical considerations: energy. Where was the energy and excitement for doing something new? 

Instead of trying to persuade churches that greeted news with lackadaisy, I should have known to go where there was passion. 

I think we often in the church fall into this trap of trying to push one well-meaning project or another. Instead, perhaps a good rule of thumb is to step back and offer an honest assessment: Is there energy and enthusiasm for this? Who has the passion for something new – and who doesn’t? 

I sent another round of invitations, this time to places that were eager and excited. 

I’ll get around to pushing some of our churches. But there's so little return from the apathetic. 

So for now, I’m going where the energy is.