Wednesday, August 26, 2009

A response from the Church survey

Sorry you haven't heard from me in awhile. I've been on vacation and working on a new Church project that takes up most of my time so this week I'm going to post a response I got on one of my surveys that really says a lot. Thanks to the church member who sent it in.

CS is very personality driven. Mrs. Eddy wanted it to be impersonal, but the way it is set up, especially with only being allowed to have one teacher for your whole life, makes people dwell on questions such as who-was-taught-by-who, who is your practitioner, are they a good practitioner, etc. Members seem to focus on people being the healers instead of it being an impersonal principle. Also, I don't understand why Mrs. Eddy made the CS Board of Directors a lifetime appointment by a board which selects its own members. This has been a problem because the board become insulated in Boston and does not hear or visit the field enough. Some of the flaky decisions have been made in the past which have driven a wedge in the Movement. Expecting small churches (most have under 25 members) buy new Hymnal Supplements or fully stock Reading Rooms, hold expensive lectures, etc. puts a burden on small elderly memberships. Having the church rely on lay people and not having a fully-trained minister and a paid church staff to support the flock puts a lot of pressure on the few who have enough free time to become readers and actually do the church work. It also makes members judgmental toward those who feel they don't have the time or the inclination to do church committee work. Also many churches have too many committees. Committee work takes away from healing work. Many churches are told to get away from the social (and I understand that) yet there is no true fellowship among the members. Having a soloist who can sing from within the membership can be troublesome, yet having to pay an outsider when a membership is small and struggling to keep the lights on is a burden. Sunday School teachers need more training. My kids have been really turned off by wacky teachers with ridiculous ideas. Or they have been bored to death just going over the lesson each week or constantly reviewing the commandments, beatitudes, etc. If you can't get teachers to commit to teaching each week and get people who can somehow draw out a comprehensive lesson plan then instruction is really spotty. Also kids are placed in classes according to age and not knowledge. Children who have been in SS since infancy are asked to sit through very elementary lessons if a visitor or newcomer enters the class. Regular school is not held this way. Kids learning French are put in beginner or advanced classes based on knowledge or experience. And having no Sunday School option for people who enter the religion after age 20 is a real problem. The religion depends entirely too much on self study and there is very little structured support of the new student.