tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post1991797380449504498..comments2023-12-15T21:49:46.651+01:00Comments on Pluralist Speaks: Evaluating a CongregationPluralist (Adrian Worsfold)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01922153724523820866noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post-23598575428303288612010-03-23T14:05:38.567+01:002010-03-23T14:05:38.567+01:00Yes. One of the harsh facts of the matter is that ...Yes. One of the harsh facts of the matter is that many a congregation has to bounce. It seems not to change and emerge upwards. In one sense the Hull church looked over a cliff, but it had always been more flexible, so a crisis was earlier in management than might have been. For some the bounce is instead a fall through the floor and that's it. Some places have started from scratch or from distant memory but it is a much harder job to do that than to revive something that can continue, however dire it has become.<br /><br />But Unitarians are there first. Watch how the other denominations go as they head towards 2050 (the Peter Brierley date of structural implosions). The Unitarians do have a present day unique selling point, for a minority of churchgoers, and other Churches in their increasing sectarianism are doing Unitarianism no harm at all.Pluralist (Adrian Worsfold)https://www.blogger.com/profile/01922153724523820866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post-24825478059081616462010-03-23T10:42:13.650+01:002010-03-23T10:42:13.650+01:00The choice of a minister in the Unitarian denomina...The choice of a minister in the Unitarian denomination,as in other non-conformist churches,is a crucial appointment,far more so than in the liturgically ordered churches,where as long as the services are conducted in an orderly fashion,most of the congregation will be kept happy whatever the intrinsic qualities of the incumbent may be.An inspection of the GA directory will show that the tenure of ministers in most Unitarian congregations is very short - less than 5 years,with very few long pastorates ; I am not aware that there has been any study of why this is so.There may be fewer ministers in training but my informal impression is that the quality is higher-forecasts of the demise of the denomination within a generation are not likely to attract any but the most dedicated and determined,as it is a lonely job,especially for the Unitarian who is likely to be shunned by many of his local clerical colleagues in the mainline churches.How many remarkably talented and inspiring leaders can we hope to attract to ministry,given the low ebb to which many Unitarian congregations have sunk in the last quarter century ? Like you I believe that every institution has a life cycle and it is only when the organisation is all but defunct that 'new life' will arise.NUFernoreply@blogger.com