Introduction: An Unprofessional Story
A few years ago a parish ministry leader asked me to be in one of her big events as an Emcee. The event was just not my cup of tea, at all. I did not want to be in it, and so, politely, I told her just that, which should have been enough. A few days later, however, I was greeted with an email saying that, oops! she went ahead and wrote me into their official program and printed off 1,000 of them with my name in there. "So," she said "I guess you're stuck!"
I was furious and astonished that someone would do that.
In my reply I told her how unprofessional it was to try and paint me in a corner to do something I already made clear I did not want to do. Her reply told me volumes about parish work: "Professional? It's not like we work at Exxon or something! This is a church. You don't have to be professional."
Wow. Just wow.
So with that lead in, I would like to bring up some questions and draw upon the wisdom of the private sector to find answers to some pressing parish worker questions, like:
- Where is the line between being pastoral and being professional?
- How much should your local parish reflect the life and culture of a successful business?
- What practices, if any, should a parish incorporate from the business sector?
- What is the role of numbers in terms of audiences reached and money budgeted?