I think that one of the issues why people today are becoming more suspicious of the institution of the Church is that there seems to be a problem with communication. Last time I checked I don't recall Jesus saying anything about the need to give people messages through third parties instead of talking directly to a person. We leave messages to be delivered on our behalf's by other people and then wonder why people are frustrated when they don't understand where or why there is this message. Example - this set of papers sounds too much of one thing and not another and that maybe causing you a problem is the message I received lately from a third party. The third party person couldn't tell me what sounded wrong or why. So now I have to track down the author of such comments and try to get them to explain. Why not take the middle person out? Why not just be direct? Don't want to use the phone there's email, letters, social media, etc. Messages and memos get lost in translation and people feel like they're talked about and guess what they have been. What about fostering community comes from this stuff? I'd argue nothing. I know this situation makes me question my affiliations with certain groups, I doubt others would be that far behind me.
As a minister I have the honor of performing rites and ceremonies for people at a variety of stages of life: baptisms, blessings, marriages, funerals, etc. I usually enjoy planning and leading these events. But lately I've had a rash of folks shocked that as a minister, I would have a fee to do some of these services. So lets talk about why I have fees. To start with, if you are a member of my congregation you do get my services as a part of my contract with the congregation as long as they are spelled out in the contract. Generally if you're a member of the congregation I serve, it is expected that I will preform baptisms, blessings, funerals, weddings, etc for you because I want to remind you of God's continuous blessing in your life and especially at important moments in your life. However some folks are shocked that there would be an honorarium suggested for the minister. The reality is that these blessings, weddings, funerals, etc. are extra work in our wee...
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