The churches of Port Alberni pretty much universally keep talking about outreach, reaching out to the community, bringing the community into the church, and growing their own congregations. It is extremely disappointing, and very discouraging, to find that the churches of Port Alberni have extremely little actual ambition or intention to do so. I have been involved in several proposals to provide the churches with options for outreach type programs (reaching out to the community, providing services or events for the community, to allow them to invite, to an event, people who would not normally be willing to attend a church service). The churches are not even willing to advertise these activities in their own bulletins, announcements, or email messages and Facebook postings to their congregants. Nobody has the slightest interest, not in helping me, but in doing the slightest thing to help me help them.
This is the more frustrating, discouraging, and disappointing, to me personally. Particularly when there are people involved in the leadership of the churches here in Port Alberni, who have asserted and insisted that they are my friends, and are trying to support me personally, and my endeavours, quite separate from my church activities, but then cannot be bothered to take the slightest actions, or make the slightest efforts, with regard to ensuring or at least mentioning these events and activities.
As usual, it's Sunday (when there are fewer other volunteer activities to distract me, and when I am definitely visiting churches) that points out this problem in high relief. At one church the minister makes a special point of telling me that he will not be supporting this event because of a personal prejudice against one of the churches marginally involved. At another a request to mention the project to his congregation gets the kind of vague acknowledgement which you know will not lead to any action, and is impossible to fight.
In one specific case, it's depressing, and discouraging, to realize that the person that everyone agrees is the person that I need to talk to, and who will be able to assist the project, and without whom the project will not proceed, and who is, in fact, in a specific position to help and support people in my situation, has made abundantly, pelucidly, comprehensively clear that he does not care anything about me, my needs, or my situation. If I don't do things not only his way, but in his form and per his demands, he will do nothing. He hasn't refused to help with the project, mind you, what he's refused to do is to communicate with me, in any way that I find convenient, or even possible. I am to pursue him, via his chosen means of communication, and make undoubtedly multiple attempts to fit into his schedule, regardless of how busy I am. His disinterest in even talking with me does not bode well for any assistance with the project, or indeed with any of the projects. Not only because I can't provide him with necessary information, but because it's obvious that his disinterest in communicating with me extends to communicating with anyone. And it's ironic, on this day, that his sermon stresses that we, as members of the church, need to take action, whenever and wherever we see something that needs to be done. Since he, clearly, refuses to acknowledge any situations but his own.
No comments:
Post a Comment