1. Their personal economic situation feels imperiled, perhaps desperate.
2. Their community context — friends, neighbors, local businesses — feels a severe pinch from the recession.
3. Their beloved church is struggling to stay afloat.
That is a heavy load to bear. Even the most loyal church members will be tempted to ratchet down their financial commitment for 2010. Even the most loyal friend, neighbor, and citizen will be tempted to pull inward and put family needs first.
When we teach about Spiritual Development, this is where it matters — not minor increments of spiritual perfection, but courage for hard times, magnanimity for hard times, and an ability to trust God and other people during hard times.
Even in mid-crisis, it isn’t too late to be teaching people how to pray, how to understand themselves as God’s agents in mission to the “least of these,” and how to imagine responsible Christian stewardship when the pantry at home feels bare.
I know that most parish pledge drives are far advanced, but I encourage you to consider a mid-campaign change of strategy, or start planning ahead for next autumn’s pledge drive.
First, I urge you to name and to honor the dilemma. People who cannot give should not be allowed to feel less than supportive. Yes, the congregation needs money. But more than that, it needs appreciative people to function as a community of faith.
Second, I urge you to ask people for their first quarter pledge only, rather than an entire year. If the situation continues to improve and begins to ease their personal distress, you will ask for more in the second quarter and beyond. If the situation worsens for them, you give them permission to retreat.
Third, I urge you to consider major cost reductions. Closing the building, for example, would be a drastic step for most churches, but it would be better than jettisoning clergy and musicians. You can worship in donated space, but you need the Word preached, taught, and sung with confidence. It isn’t pews that will save us.
We will make it through this time. At the other end, we want to remember having hung together and dealt boldly with distress.
Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant, and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the publisher of On a Journey, and the founder of the Church Wellness Project www.churchwellness.com.
