The recent post on Perish Services wrecking a congregation brings up an interesting issue about synod-paid Chicanery staff double-dipping.
Feel free to correct my facts, since I am not on their memo list.
Someone like Paul Calvin Kelm gets a "call" to be a Perish Consultant. Apparently there are Consultants and Assistants - but I am not sure. I will include the Planned Giving Counselors, laity and pastors, who offer estate planning seminars and holds granny's hand while she signs over an Irrevocable Trust over the the synod.
I have to assume that there is a set salary, or they would not gather there, like flies to buttermilk. But there is also a commission or fee. The Bergs said that the Special Giving Counselors get a commission for each gift, that this is written in the contract. Laity reporting from the battlefield tell me that the Perish experts extract huge fees, up to $10,000.
The Ron Roth/Jeff Davis team imposes a large fee plus a percentage of the money raised, contrary to normal stewardship practice (but in harmony with Jewish traditions). Roth and Davis, Inc are not now part of The Love Shack, but they use their WELS connections accordingly. Roth midwifes the Church Growth Movement in WELS, so bow down. Both are Chicaneries, Ron a founder and Jeff a stealth board member (photo but no bio!).
Most people probably assume that staff from The Love Shack are doing their work because mission offerings have already paid them.
My experience with the Chicaneries is - they leave no money-source stone unturned. Members and pastors should be more careful with the money entrusted to them.
---
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Perish Assistance in WELS":
I know of two churches which spent between $30,000 and $35,000 each on Perish Services.
If you want to save the money, here is the essence of the program.
1. Get lay people to take over some
of the pastor's duties in the
Sunday morning worship service.
2. Start a pre-school.
3. Have a greeting and visitors
center in the narthex, which
is improved with coffee.
4. Get a new church sign.
5. Spruce up the landscaping.
6. Find a way to increase
offerings -- anything from an
every member (stewardship) visit
to hiring an outside firm.
7. Write a mission statement since
you can't know what are a doing
without one. (Shame our
forefathers' churches didn't
have them. WELS could be big by
now if they had!)
8. Start a committee to talk about
"The State of the Church."
9. By the way, some new buildings
would help.
If you think this is worth thirty grand, I have a message for you. I will discount it to $20,000 just for you. If you want to buy in, leave your email address on this blog and I will get in touch with you where you send the money. It's a deal. I just saved you $10,000. Only serious contributors of $20,000 need to respond!
---
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Perish Assistance in WELS":
My congregation used Parish Assistance several years ago. I firmly believed that a good plan was developed. However, with any plan the pastor and laity must be involved, supportive, and committed to address the plan that was adopted. Many years have now passed, the plan gathers dust and the pastors discuss how overwhelmed they are with two bible studies on Sunday mornings and nothing else the rest of the week. Parish services may be bad and my experience doesn't support it but we're in denial if we think we do not have leadersip issues to address churches that are frankly withering away.
5 comments:
Our church is so small that our pastor has barely any confirmands. In order to be more efficient, he actually has students go through a year early or a year late so the pastor only has one confirmation class. Also, the parents then don't have to bring their kids in for confirmation class as much if they go through at the same time. Anyway, even though this is the case, somehow the pastor was so busy he couldn't do much visitation or any evangelism, but somehow he always managed to get his four weeks of vacation in per year. It was a tight squeeze to fit it in. Yeah, right.
Perish Assistance changed the slogan "Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater" to "throw out the baby even if you keep the bathwater." Lot's of babies have been thrown out by this program.
Anon, at 4:11 on Sept 3rd, I wonder if we go to the same church..
Our church is small, and shrinking...not sure what the pastor does with his time. Only a handful of shut-ins, almost no children...and the main theme is to get the council and laity to do evangelical work, while the pastor refuses to do any canvassing, even for one afternoon a week. Adult Bible class is simply a "canned" lesson from the synod...no children bible study currently since no children...
Why pay for a full time called worker?
Oh yeah, hidden behind the pious talk is plain old greed for money. Real wolves, aren't they?
A certain church in Wausau went throught eh Parish assistance program several years ago. They added a beautiful school K-8. The efforts were made and huge amounts of money along the lines of 4 million dollars was spent. Now just a few years later, the school is all but existing as a pre-school and K- 2 or 3 I think. Tons of people have left and long term teachers let go. Hunge debts remain.
The bottom line is that many in WELS are afraid to face the fact that the world hates Christianity. Many Christians and churches are now apostate. Rather than facing that fact and carrying the cross, to be more attractive to this world, certain methods and attractants are used to cover the offensiveness of Law and the antidote of the Gospel. Thus eliminating any real Law and Gospel left to teach. Most churches and many WELS churches are afraid to do what God has asked and that is to preach the Law and Gospel and instead ape the purveyors of such products that are available through many sources that have been clearly documented here - TO Survive! Rather than preaching the Law and Gospel and letting the Holy Spirit do his work, they say, "We have to survive at all costs." No, let a community that rejects the truth of God's Word be abandon and shake the dust off our feet to those who reject it as a testimony to them. (my paraphrase of Matt. 10:1)
If that means losing a church, then it is God's will. Surviving at any and all costs is man's wisdom. God will do much with little and that is His wisdom.
Post a Comment