Easter is late this year so we're still a long way from Ash Wednesday. That means there's only one thing to call this time of year: it's parochial report season! If you don't know what a parochial report is, consider yourself fortunate. Parochial reports are annual reports to the Episcopal Church and dioceses that every congregation needs to fill out. They measure . . . what exactly?
OK, they measure how many members a church has, how many people (on average) attend each Sunday, and how much money your congregation has.
And this data means . . . what exactly?
What it means most years is that the Episcopal Church is a declining church. I don't have any numbers since 2008, but assuming the trends have been followed in 2009 and 2010 we continue to be a shrinking church.
And yet to put it that way is to assume that our congregations are not vital, that we have no faith and are simply struggling to survive. I suspect this is true in more congregations than we want to admit, but I also know that many are vital in ways that aren't easily measured. And I'm willing to bet that the vital ones are focused more on Jesus than on parochial reports.
I'm a subscriber to a congregational development group on Yahoo. I will admit that a lot of days go by when I don't read the posts. But I opened the email today and was immediately challenged. A diocesan staff person in North Dakota had asked about what to do about tiny churches (really tiny, with 10 people coming on Sunday morning). Should they be closed? Should they try to change? I found the response from a woman in Wisconsin fascinating (I'm editing a bit to give some context and not quote the entire post).
"The struggle [is] trusting the leadership -- of members asking themselves and each other -- Who do those people in the collars want to serve, who are they going to serve? Are they serving themselves? Are they serving God? Are they serving us? Are they serving others? Whoa -- the people in the collars and in the positions of authoriy and leadership do not have it easy -- because the motivations of their hearts are always being judged by people while being moved by God in Christ."
I appreciate her empathy but I'm challenged by her questions. As one of those "people in the collars," who am I serving? Is my biggest concern average Sunday attendance or is it proclaiming the gospel and making disciples? And if it's the latter, is it really possible to measure success?
Who are we serving? I believe the correct answer is Jesus . . . right?
I wonder what report he's looking for.
