It seems a very nice young couple recently reserved the local church they attend for their wedding rehearsal. They made this arrangement several months in advance. It turns out their “reservation” was withdrawn at the last minute so a local community college could rent out the church for some type of ceremony they were holding.
Would you care to guess the reason, or should I say lame excuse they were given as to why the promise made to them to was rescinded without so much as a notice, much less without getting their approval?
“We hadn’t heard anything from you the last few weeks so we just assumed you didn’t want it anymore.” How’s that for an excuse? It sounds like a cop out to me.
My first thought was to question why someone from the church did not call them to make sure of their plans before just pulling the rug out from under them. Is this the only church in North America without a phone? Somehow, it wouldn’t surprise me if that was their first thought also. They chose to be gracious and not make an issue of it when they would have been justified if they had.
My concern is what kind of example this sits for these young people about to start their life together. I can’t speak for them. I don’t know what they are thinking. However, I can tell you what I would be thinking in their shoes.
I would wonder why the commitment my church and those running it made to me suddenly couldn’t be honored when money got involved in the situation. I would be giving serious consideration to finding a church that cared a little more about me.
Am I being too critical? Or does this whole situation turn your stomach too?
July 21st, 2008 - 5:40 pm
I can’t say that I know the whole situation . . . BUT I, for one, am appalled! This is so typical of how irresponsible . . . and how insensitive . . . and how self-consumed . . . and how stupid churches can be.
Now I understand that sometimes people just flub-up (double scheduling and the sort). If that’s what happened, then the church need only to do the stand-up thing: say, “we flubbed-up” and appologize. Most people can accept that. But it seems to me that the church chose to blame this young couple for their mistake. To tell them, “you shoulda called” is the epitome of irresponsibility.
Could no one in the church remember what it was like to plan a wedding? Could no one in the church remember the myriad juggling balls that must be kept in the air? (The church was probably the one “ball” they thought they could forget for a while . . . “Well, at least we have the church taken care of.”) Could no one in the church remember how important a wedding is to a young couple? Talk about insensitive!
At worst (although, I hope there’s more to the story), this church made the decision for financial gain. Again, I understand all about trying to make ends meet in a struggling economy. But some things are more important . . . like a church’s word! Jesus said we are to “deny self” when we follow him (I could on and on about this one). Too many churches are only concerned about themselves (their survival and the the welfare of their “members”). Not only is that self-consumed . . . it’s unChristian.
How stupid! This church had an opportunity to connect with this young couple in a positive way, to have some positive influence, and they completely blew it! In a day when churches are virtually on the brink of extinction, it is nothing short of stupid to alienate the few people who still have a high regard for the church.
July 31st, 2008 - 6:56 am
Agreed. I wish churches weren’t so focused on other things.