Church "work" is a tricky thing to manage. I've seen more active members of churches suddenly drop off the roles because there are simply so many things that they are asked to do that they just decide to chuck it. It's easier to stop going to church than it is to tell some committee chair that they don't really want to participate in their new program. So do yourself a favor, please don't pressure members to accept responsibilities that they aren't really jazzed about. Don't eye new members as fresh blood for your committee. Make it clear to people that you'd like them on your team but you understand they might be busy with other things and, please,
take no for an answer!Recently I've heard rumblings from other people bringing up this very issue, so I'm not alone in this. Churches are seeing declines pretty much across the board and ours is no exception. But just be aware that adding a program to bring in new members could be counter productive if you burn out the ones you have. By the way, I belong to the Presbyterian Church and while it's very democratic in its process, I think we are the committee champions. We have committees that nominate people for committees including the members that will be on next year's committee-nominating committee.
Well, after all that, at least I've learned how to spell committee. ;)
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