fear the community...

(part two?)

this.

this is what started it all. it was my fourth day and fourth post after entering the blog nation. it's crazy how far blog nation has come since then, almost two years ago. in october of 2005, blogspot was a blip on the radar. livejournal was still in. facebook had yet to sell out. now? now, if you aren't blogging, it seems like you are in the minority. although, that's not really true. in the sports world that i live half the time, though, blogs are everywhere. and it's incredible. having access to opinion all over the country, all over the world from fans of their own local teams and interests creates the most thorough spread of information "the fan" has ever seen. rather than depending on one local sports columnist and paper and the occasional story on sportscenter, you can have full access to almost any team, hell any subject (sports or otherwise) as quickly as google can pull it up. and that's pretty quick. but i digress.

the above post was the one that lit a fire under myself and others at my church because i dared to criticize the church for cancelling it's annual halloween event due to "lack of volunteers". it still irks me to this day. it irks me for all the wrong reasons. and it isn't any easier to swallow. the year before, huffman methodist, baptist and our lady of lourdes had unprecedented turnout to each of our events. we staged them on the same day. and morning after stories led us to feel like all people in the community that came to one carnival came to all three. and it was awesome. we ran out of candy. the church was packed. we championed it the next day in worship. and one year later, we let it scare us out of doing it again.

but that all changes this year. for whatever reason, the chris led staff has decided to put on the event again. and i think that is great! i think it is so great that i went to the organizational meeting monday night. i wanted to make sure that i backed up whatever criticism i had levied the last couple of years with just as much support this year. i wanted to make sure our sunday school class was represented (it was. tanya beat me there.). i wanted to volunteer the softball team for a booth. or to cook. or for whatever. i wanted to make sure that the folks there knew that i wanted to help.

and then the meeting started.

and i was reminded (again) of why it's taken me so long to work up the motivation to work with huffman again. the meeting was small. but everything that is right with huffman was represented. and unfortunately, everything that is wrong was there too. the 2004 carnival was brought up as both a good thing and a bad thing. too many people. not enough candy. not enough volunteers. (and this is bad why?) the decision had been made prior to the meeting to have our event on sunday, the 28th, which is fine i guess. it's just not halloween. the day that people usually dress up like someone else and go out looking for something to do. why? availability of volunteers. lack of set-up time. sunday was just more convenient. and all of that makes perfect sense to me. i get it. i really do. but it's still not on halloween. it's from 5-8 on sunday. if it was from 5-8 on on wednesday, we could encourage all of our daycare kids to go through the carnival before they went home. we would already have traffic in our parking lot right next to a sign that said HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL....HERE....TONIGHT....ON HALLOWEEN!!!. that alone would pique enough passer-by's interest to at least consider checking us out, right? also, a decision was made to have a dance, or monster mash, for the older youth that may come on the 28th. this did drastically alter the planned target age of 2-12 for the carnival, but what the hell, right? we are doing the carnival primarily inside, which makes sense again (what if it rains?), but again will knock the potential guest number down to a certain degree. and i guess that's what worries me the most. if we were going to do this...if we were going to try and come back from a two year absence, two years for the community to come to grips with the idea that we don't do a halloween carnival anymore, wouldn't we want to take intentional steps and intentional care to make sure every decision we made for the event put the community's interest ahead of our own? even if the final date and strategy meant some folks would have to get away from work an hour early...even if it meant we as a church and a staff were inconvenienced for one (extra) day out of the year, shouldn't we do that? are we doing it for "them"? or are we doing it for "us"?

and therein lies the question that huffman faces with every decision it now makes. for right or for wrong. for better or for worse. this is where we are. every decision that i, personally, make outside of myself and my family is uncomfortable to a point. i have to change things. refigure my schedule. hannah has to go to gymnastics and sarah is tied up? well, i want to watch mnf, but tonight, it'll have to wait up for me. kathy or heath want to schedule a vacation? well, it sucks that i'll have to work however many straight days, but that's just the way it goes. everyone deserves a vacation. church should work the same way. selfishly, it's going to be easier for us to make the safe choice. to decide on a date for something like the carnival that sounds better for us because the majority of our work force can be there, because we are already off on sunday. it's more accomodating. but what would make the bigger impact? what would make the bigger statement? what if, even with limited time and helpers, we could put the same product out on the day that is actually called halloween and not three days early? that(!!!) is what i wish we could strive for.

and maybe we will. one day.

all that said, i am very happy that we are doing the carnival again, and i am going to do my best moving forward to be as excited for the event and those that come on a sunday evening as those that might have been there on wednesday night. i might even dress up. and those that know me know how big that would be, right? i am still working on this whole spinning things positive idea. it's tough when it feels like i am diametrically opposed to almost every consensus the church seems to reach. but i am willing to listen to my own advice. i am willing to do things and be part of something that i believe in even if all the moving parts aren't placed exactly where i would put them.

if you aren't doing anything on sunday the 28th and would like to help, we could use you. if you read this and have kids and don't mind dressing them up twice or taking them out twice in four days, come see us.

the "halloween" carnival is back, baby!!!