August 30, 2006
In the Crosshairs
It sounds like our Funeral Dinner Ministry is headed for the chopping block. For well over fifty years this ministry has provided a meal to families of the deceased following the funeral service. Always before these meals were considered an outreach and were served not just to the members of the church, but also to non-members who used our facility. Apparently the new ‘proposal’ (not yet adopted) presented to the committee is to eliminate their service and anyone in need of a funeral dinner will have to rely on friends, Sunday school class members or a Bible study group. The impending death of this ministry is a real mystery to me. This group of ladies has willing volunteers, is highly organized and they require minimal funding from the church coffers. So, what’s the problem? I suppose the motives behind this decision will eventually be revealed, but once again my heart aches for our members who are systematically removed from the service they offer to the Lord. Remember Dorcas who was always doing good, helping the poor and making clothes for others? (Acts 9:32-43) As the widows grieved for her, Peter knelt, prayed and raised her from the dead. In the climate of today’s church, there’d be no need to raise Dorcas from the dead. Let’s just eliminate her ministry all together and hope that her widow friends will organize her funeral dinner.
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Gail;
----I am usually the first one to cry out over the organizational bent that we humans stick to the church. But let one of our tried and true programs get cut, and I will surely be right there with those who stand and mourn at the stump!
----It's odd, isn't it? But a bit of analysis reveals that the most mourn-worthy stumps are those left by the cutting of the most beneficial and efficiently operating programs, but programs all the same. The mourning grows all the louder when a toadstool grows up in the void.
----I recall, particularly, the mid 1990's when we had a fellowship at the church on Wednesday night. A meal was served (without the obligatory donation pump) to whomever came, and then there were classes of different interests for whomever would stay. I watched as the attendance at those Wednesday nights grew, and grew, and grew. Some coming were from other churches, but many coming were those in need of meeting the Lord. An outreach to the community was certainly growing, until a newly hired assistant minister got a better idea.
----There is always an excuse for axing a good program. The axing of that program was based on the excuse that it was getting harder and harder to find volunteers to cook the Wednesday night meal. After it had been hacked out of the church affairs, things have never been the same. The toadstools that grew up on its stump are as big, limp, and needy of human propping as anything I could have imagined.
----I wonder what the excuse for chopping this Funeral Dinner Ministry is? I wonder how limd will be the toadstool that is nurtured into its place? But I can say for sure, what distinguishes a mourn-worthy program chop from all the rest is the quality and amount of service that carries on, or maybe even increases, afterward. Those who have eyes to see shall see.
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