On the personal front, it's my busy time of year for all sorts of things with the KofC. I was asked to help judge dozens of essays that the students from my parish school wrote for a contest, and we also conducted a basketball free throw competition which is fun for them. And this past Friday I also cooked 30 pounds of fish at our annual parish Lenten fish fry, which was not as successful as we had hoped- 30 lbs cooked, 15 lbs sold. And since we had a lot of leftover fish, the parish did not get much in the way of donations from the event. The very next day I helped run the bar for the annual school gala. And I'll tell you what- those parents and teachers can sure throw back some drinks in the name of charity! I was busy the entire evening, from 4:30 to 10:00 p.m. with an endless stream of drinkers. Nobody was sloppy drunk, but they were quite happy, and it was all for charity, helping benefit the school's modest foundation for needy students.
So like I said, it was a busy week-to-10 days and I'm glad it's over. I can easily handle the at work workload, being unable to bring any of that work home and stress about it, which is good. But the KofC stuff? Wow- busy busy. It's fulfilling, meaningful, and good for my soul, but it is also starting to burn me out a little. There always seems to be something going on- one more program, one more event, more demands for my time. And I am either unable to say no when asked, or really we just don't have enough men to do all that we try to do. It has been very difficult to recruit men into the Knights- people just aren't joiners these days, Yet the reason I joined was because I needed that catalyst to help me be a more charitable person. I went to a Catholic college yet spent four years ignoring all the opportunities to do good works. So I'm glad the Knights found me after mass one Sunday, just two weeks after getting married. She encouraged me to join too. We actually have over 100 men in the council, but not very many step up to help.
I know I'm whining a bit, but it's the same old guys in my council doing the same old stuff every year. That fish fry? We only had three men step up, until the end when two more arrived to help clean up. And each year the number of meals sold seems less and less. So, I'm not sure it's even worth it. I'm exhausted afterwards and we don't make much money. I would almost prefer to just donate money and save myself the headache. The kids programs? Almost all me. But I do it because the kids always show up with enthusiasm.
I'm not sure what the answer is. I can't just quit- too many people relying on me. Someone in the Knights told me to "recruit your relief" meaning- bring in a guy because you don't want to do it forever. We do bring in a handful every year, but they don't want to be active for some reason. At some point, I will have to just stop saying yes. We're the oldest council in town, been around since 1908, and the only one until after WWII, so I pray it won't fade away, but I will have to step back eventually.
And to add fuel to the flames, I was just elected President of the San Diego Mustang Club. That one is more of a joy than a burden though- fun stuff with little responsibility. All I have to do is create an agenda and preside over a monthly meeting, which I can do in my sleep, letting the various directors speak about upcoming activities, be it parades, car shows, Cars & Coffee events, etc. Going for a club drive or doing some parade is just fun for me so no stress there.
However, I will have some respite next week when my wife and I travel to Cancun for vacation, via Tampa Bay. There's no easy way, or at least no easy schedule, to get from the west coast down to that part of Mexico, so we're stopping off for a few days in Tampa to visit friends. We have several there from the time I was stationed at USCENTCOM, and several former squadron-mates from Japan have settled there in retirement. So we'll have a nice little squadron reunion we're looking forward to. Afterwards, TPA to CUN is a quick and easy one-stop flight so we've got that going for us.
This will be our first time to the Mexican Caribbean, but if it's not our last, we'll travel there differently next time. Flights there from San Diego all head to the east coast, then down to Mexico, with either red-eye flights, or long layovers that essentially make it a red-eye anyway. However, after booking the trip I realized that we could have booked a direct flight for far less than we paid by walking from the US side of the Tijuana airport right to our gate.
Cancun has on one of those State Department warnings attached to it, recommending caution when traveling there, but it's a heavily policed area due to all the tourism dollars. And the Facebook group for that particular timeshare resort we're visiting reports it as safe, with no issues. I am always cautious when traveling though, no matter where we go.
Anyway, I think that trip (and two more planned this year) will help keep me from getting too burned out with my schedule so you won't have to listen to me whine anymore. Thanks for letting me complain a bit. It's all self-induced so I just need to relax a bit, and say no a bit more. Have a great weekend.
With such a low turnout for the fish fry maybe it is time to time to talk with your fellow co-workers about continuing that event, Tuna. Enjoy your trip south of the border and keep checking your six down there......... :) Those cartels are getting bolder by the day.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to speak to the Priest about that. We made $240, which I could have easily just donated that amount.
DeleteSeems to me if you have 100 men in the Council, you should have sold at least 50 dinners right there. I'm being " generous" in not saying 100, but people do travel, get sick etc. However, 3-5% is about what any groups seems to pony up - and it's usually the same people, as with you.
DeleteSafe journey!
Boat Guy
The world is changing & it looks like it's happening on all the fronts... I'd like to wish you the best of luck with your church related endeavors!
ReplyDeleteOn what may be a side note... they have a guy named Tuna running a fish fry & it's not going well? "Sorry Charlie..."
(That might be age related humor but someone has to get it! :-)
My Father's name was Charlie and he always hated the tuna commercials...lol
DeleteTuna - Fish, fish- Tuna. I laughed. Sorry Charlie!
DeleteRob, I thought of the same thing. Too funny. Tuna, make course corrections while they are small. Big turns of the rudder throw people off balance... Doing the same old because we always have may fall into that reasoning as well. Luke 14:28-30
ReplyDeleteAt my church, it's the same, but smaller. After the Covidiocy, attendance stayed low. It's running on fumes. Societal changes were pretty big after Covidiocy. It's gonna be interesting to see how this all works out going forward.
We've lost so many parishioners- either from the faith, or to another nearby parish. The old Mission San Diego de Alcala, the first of the missions started by St. Serra, is where many have gone- more masses, shorter sermons (due to one mass per hour due to huge visitor attendance and more), native English speakers (my parish- small, gets African and Philippine priests new to the US who are hard to understand sometimes).
DeleteGood post, Tuna, thanks.
DeleteOur Church (actually two churches side by side, the one from the 1850's and the new one from the 1940's, both beautiful) has a priest from India as the associate pastor., his English is none too good. He had a sermon a few weeks ago that if I understood 1 word in 10 I was doing pretty good. The bad thing is he's a very nice guy and very smart. When you talk to him face to face, he's much more understandable, when he preaches from the pulpit he's not quite as understandable and when he stands in front of the congregation and preaches using a throat mike, well...that's the one word in ten. I don't want to complain to the Pastor and I don't want to offend the Guy, but I would like to learn something from the sermon. Not sure how to proceed.
Nice pictures, BTW.
juvat
My wife tunes out when she can't understand. My brain hurts after mass from concentrating on his lips and words to try to get something from the homilies. That's the future though- African / Indian / Filipino priests since we can't get local men to join the seminary. 6 total in SD right now in training- that's it.
DeleteCondolences on declining volunteerism to actually enable groups to DO things. A year ago we were forced to disband a 60 year old group due to declining number of people willing (or able due to age) to pitch in and do the stuff that needed to be done. Oh, lots of people whined about "Why are we stopping our activity" but none were willing to step up and say "I want to help, what can I do?" Even after repeated pleas and warnings that the end was nigh.
ReplyDeleteSadly that seems to be a major problem with churches of all denominations (with the possible exception of the LDS (Mormon) faith which is so youth oriented and has strong emphasis on kids going on missions and the like. The beneficial effect of religion and religious values as part of our Judeo-Christian foundational values and common core frame of reference is diminishing across the country. Reportedly, many church congregations are now but a handful of gray hairs, unable to sustain their houses of worship or support their pastoral leaders (whom now sometimes serve multiple congregations who occasionally must merge to afford to continue.
The denigration of religion is part and parcel of the left's war on traditional American values, shifting focus from self reliance and personal responsibility and helping others to a culture of dependency on government, and divisiveness to raise hatred between various factions to be courted separately. The cults of climate worship and promiscuity and class envy (if not outright warfare) are the new gospel which you shall worship or else. Are our enemies foreign or domestic? Kinda hard to tell the difference any more. Pardon the rant.
John Blackshoe
Yes, many layered problems, no easily identifiable solutions.
Delete"but it's the same old guys in my council doing the same old stuff every year. "
ReplyDeleteI think it's the same everywhere. Growing up the work parties at St. Francis in Vista were always the same 6 to 8 guys my dad's age (all WWII vets). Dad usually had me come along starting when I was about 11. Lots of younger families, but it was the same guys every weekend. Same with the Orthodox parish I'm in now, for decades it was the same dozen people doing everything. But in the last couple of years, with new converts coming in, there is a changing of the guard, and also the kids, or grandkids, of the Old Guard are stepping in to fill the slots.
"That fish fry? We only had three men step up, until the end when two more arrived to help clean up. And each year the number of meals sold seems less and less. "
Our Glendi Fall Food Fair was the same. We usually spent months making and freezing cookies, piroshki, etc, and then a week of intense food prep for the Glendi weekend then a week of tearing down the booths cleaning them and all the equipment and storing it all. But we hit the point of diminishing returns, we could only cycle through so many people our expenses kept rising, and people were burning out on it. Pulled the plug on it a few years ago.
Things change.
I didn't realize you were a local. Been to St. Francis many many times, as it was my Aunt's parish. Part of my huge family in the area is because of her and my retired USMC uncle- both now passed away though.
DeleteDad was in the Corps from 1940 to 1947, separated in '47 at Camp Pendleton, decided he liked CA better than Kentucky or mom's home state of Pennsylvania.
DeleteI was born in La Jolla, that being the closest hospital at the time. Raised in Vista from '57 to '78.
Ahh, got it. We were born in the same hospital. Are you a Knight?
DeleteNope. I left the RCC in my teens not long after the "guitar mass" came in. Tried to go back in my early 30s here in Sonoma County but having Teddy Ruxpin "concelebrate" at one Mass, and the Epistle being read in a velour jogging suit in another Mass made me realize that the RCC had changed too much.
DeleteWent to Orthodox Vespers and Liturgy at the Glendi Food Fair here in Santa Rosa and it seemed like home. Went back on New Years Day - Liturgy of St. Basil, then Vespers on the Eve of Epiphany a few days later, felt Something embracing me (wife felt the same) and whispering "Welcome home." Received on the Vespers of Prodigal Son (very short catacumenate) and am now a Subdeacon. Been Orthodox for for 32 years now.
Ok, glad you didn't lose your faith.
DeleteTuna - My long time friend Uisdean Ruadh is a member of his local KoC council and has been for many years, and so I have ended up having a deeper insight into the ongoing operations in a way most non-Catholics might not.
ReplyDeleteLike you, he has often commented on the relative inability of getting more than a handful of men involved for a great many things. Pareto's rule seems to hold true here as well: 20% of the people get 80% of the work done. And from what he has described, sometimes getting the remaining 80% involved feels like the other 80% of the work (yes, I am aware the math does not work).
In our talks (we have talked about it a great deal), a couple of things have come up. The first, of course, is that this issue does not just seem confined to a single fraternal order; his impression from speaking with others is this is a universal challenge for many if not most fraternal organizations. When I was growing up in my small town, we had active groups of Elks, Moose Lodge, Freemasons, Odd Fellows, and the KoC. The buildings for those still exist, but I cannot think of a single time locally where anyone has mentioned they belong. And here in New Home, a very large city, I have never heard anyone mention anything about belonging to any of those organizations.
I wonder if part of the issue is simply the fact that the benefits of the fraternal order have changed to other arenas. Similar to the way that once upon a time The British Pub served as sort of community male gathering point, men are connecting in other ways - The InterWeb for sure, but in other specific organizational ways (sports for example, or some other sort of activity). Also, potentially another issue is that such participation is seen as "yet another" evening or weekend morning out. Speaking mostly for myself, the extension of work hours (and commute hours) made my time at home all the more precious.
There is also a factor of people not being "joiners" anymore. I suppose even I am prone to that. If you asked me why (nice segue), I do not know that I could give you a full answer. Maybe it is the sense of committing myself to something and not knowing what that fully means. Perhaps it is we (I) have become more selective in how we commit in the sense that we think we need 100% agreement with everything, see our individual point of view as equally important as the overall mission and goals of the organization.
In terms of charitable organizations, this has changed as well. It is not that people are necessarily less charitable - but it is true that they seem to be less willing to volunteer. Part of that is the aforementioned "time" element. Part of that is the fact that it is easier to just make a donation online than give time. And part of it, perhaps, is we do not have a culture where the idea of volunteering for charitable causes has been passed on. We have become a culture of "Pay someone to do something", be it deliver food or mow the lawn or perform charity.
In speaking with Uisdean Ruadh, it is also relatively clear (at least to me) that the fraternal organizations at a national level are not seeing this decline for the problem that it is. I am not sure why, although I should think that the numbers would tell the story. And I do wonder if they are making it easy for people to be involved - the idea of using mail-in envelopes for membership dues, while still likely true for a percentage of the population, is not really how people do things now in the InterWeb Age.
That said - and I have said the same to Uisdean Ruadh as well - at some point, it is not your responsibility to save the organization from itself. You can do (and have done) all that you can do. Sometimes, the best of intentioned organizations dissolve because they fit another age.
(Apologies - this has gone on much longer than intended. As you might guess, it is something we have talked a lot about).
(Part II: Apparently there is a word limit. Who knew.)
DeleteDo enjoy the vacation. We are getting ready to go another place which is on the "alert" location undoubtedly. To your point, it is in the interest of the local governments to ensure tourists are safe and the tourist money flows. As long as we stay in the assigned areas and in a group, I feel pretty confident.
(Post-Script: To STxAR's point above, The Plague really cut into the idea that one had to be present to be a participant. There were numerous societal changes that we see manifesting themselves now and will continue to do. I also think we are in an era where people are more likely to simply walk away from something rather than participate in a global sense when there are clearly aspects about the thing they disagree with. The age of blind belief and trust in leadership and the organization is rapidly declining.)
"involved for a great many things. Pareto's rule seems to hold true here as well: 20% of the people get 80% of the work done."
DeleteIt's really biblical. Look to the Old Testament...you have the small Priesthood, the leaders. Then you have the Levites, those drawers of wood and hewers of water, much larger than the priesthood, but still a small percentage of the population. They do most of the heavy lifting. Then you have Israel, the great mass of the people who participate in prayer and give money to support everything.
I've seen it in parish life, I've seen it in the SCA, I've seen it in Civil War reenacting. Always pretty much the same breakdown. A handful who take on the leadership roles, either elected or volunteer. Then a greater number who don't want the responsibility of leadership, but will step up to dig ditches, cut the grass, cook the fish , and so on. Then the rest who show up at events, play, and go home.
Joe, Highland Games was/is the same: Plenty of people to come and throw, a few (early arrivers) to help set up, a very very few to help break down. It leads to burnout, and then suddenly people are "surprised" the activities no longer take place.
DeleteYep. Only so much blood in the turnip.
DeleteMy wife and I tend to be "doers." We came to the Orthodox Church when we were looking for a Church to bring her kinds up in. Weird series of events - 'Young Kathrine" on, I think TBS, about how Sophie became Kathrine the Great, and the episode about her conversion to Orthodoxy, a visit by a then Soviet research ship retracing the voyage of Bering on the 250th anniversary to Fort Ross and the "short" prayer service in the chapel there, followed two weeks later by a visit from the Patriarch of Moscow, and then we went to the Glendi Food Fair in Santa Rosa. We got there the first day, saw all these people running around just before the official opening time were stupid and said, "Anything we can do to help?" (go see Larry! Who's Larry? Tall, dark hair, beard. That at an Orthodox parish....jolly jokers....they put us helping at the ticket booth ---total strangers handling the gate). But in all that running around we saw their love for each other.
I think you're right, TB, about the usefulness of fraternal and sororital organizations going away due to modern technology. They used to be the contact points for business, for after-business activities, for community, for relief and for housing. What? Housing? Yeah, back in the day (pre-WWII) a lodge member could go to a new city with a pocketful of contact names and numbers and find temporary lodging in a lodge-member's home. And have a list of new jobs, places to shop, contacts for faith and charity and everything else.
DeleteIt's quite a different world out there these days. Much more unfriendly and antisocial.
Joe - Fort Ross is one of my favorite California State Parks. So much history that is essentially ignored. I can only imagine what a service in that chapel must be like.
DeleteThat is a great story about showing up and volunteering - and how love for each other was demonstrated. Thanks for sharing.
Beans - My maternal grandfather was a Free Mason - how long, I do not know, but he climbed the entire hierarchy to the top of the local lodge. To your point, a great many of his work colleagues were in the same lodge and even from my limited understanding, that made a lot of things happen. Immigrant communities filled the same sort of role.
DeleteStory from the California Gold Rush: An actor was having problem getting people to his show. As the people were "Gold Miners", the chances were rather slim that high theater would be a success. Either as a joke or a plan, he ended up being invited to join the quasi Fraternal Order E Clampus Vitus. Suddenly the theater was packed the following night: The actor was no longer an outsider, he was a brother.
As a point of experience, with my recent upcoming relocation, I have a consultant that is providing us not only with an apartment list but with every other sort of thing that we might be interested in (not including, of course, our own ability to research). And thanks to The Socials, acquaintances in the area have reached out in a way that they would not have otherwise (likely I would not have known they lived there).
It is indeed a much colder world.
Delete" I can only imagine what a service in that chapel must be like."
Crowded, hot, and confusing. Google "pilgrimage to fort ross" or such for the annual treks. OCA does 4th of July, ROCOR does Memorial Day. Even back in the '20s and '30 people traveled from San Francisco to Ft. Ross for it.
That one molyeven (prayer service) that I mentioned, the organizers said it would be "short" maybe 10 minutes. We laughed at them. Even though we weren't yet Orthodox we knew that a "short" service was at least half an hour. That one was so hot and crowded in the chapel that the Capt. of the Shersov collapsed, and was airlifted out. I guess it didn't help that the Soviet Union had just dissolved, they were trying to avert an all out civil war, the trip as much a trade delegation trying to drum up markets as anything, wasn't well organized or funded so they didn't know if they could pay the berthing fees in San Francisco, much less fuel to get home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iFFp9trwQA
Thanks TB, Beans, et al... There just seems to be a lack of connection to our foundations, and it's more about "me" than the "us" or the greater good. When we don't have a strong faith foundation, imho, we lack the absolute basic. When we don't believe in the the US as the greatest country that has ever been, we can't get kids to join and fight for our rights that come from God. When we don't value interpersonal relations, we sit at home, order uber-eats, watch movies alone, and lose that social connection.
DeleteWhen we don't have strong faith and strong families (the two seem very connected, funny that) then "We" becomes "Me" and then the world goes to Hell. Fortunately, in my area, a lot of the people having children are into strong faith and family. They're literally outbreeding the leftist "me, me me" people.
DeleteJoe - " I can only imagine what a service in that chapel must be like."
DeleteCrowded, hot, and confusing."
You are undoubtedly right; I have only been during much cooler seasons. The historicity appeals to me.
"When we don't have strong faith and strong families (the two seem very connected, funny that) then "We" becomes "Me" and then the world goes to Hell. Fortunately, in my area, a lot of the people having children are into strong faith and family. They're literally outbreeding the leftist "me, me me" people."
DeleteThe "Me" focus is strong, Beans. It seems to have become more prevalent.
The reality - that you point to - is that the Me, Me, Me generation is largely a self correcting issue - just a very long time frame.
Life is change. The Covidiocy -- I love that term -- has changed a huge number of things, and I can't think of one that became better. We are having trouble in all of the groups I'm in. Some have changed to Zoom, and will not, probably, ever "go back". One is trying to become hybrid, in person meeting with Zoom. Bizarre factoid: for a decade, it was somewhat of a joke that I came the furthest distance to the support group meeting. I still am. People who live a quarter of a mile away Zoom in. We've become fearful of our neighbors, it seems, and that's a horrible thing to happen to a culture / society; I fear for our country's survival, not from war, from internal collapse.
ReplyDeleteHTom - I think one thing that definitely changed is that for many activities for which physical participation was not quite a requirement but highly recommended participatory part of the activity, people now interpret in-person attendance as optional - and not just based on health concerns but based on any justifiable reason in our mind.
DeleteI cannot definitely speak for the effectiveness of remote participation for all events - at work, it seemed rather efficient - but anything that has some element of interaction and participation suffers from people not being present. There are aspects and elements that simply do not manifest themselves unless you are "there" along with other people.
Sadly, like most decay, this will likely continue unseen and unheard and some years from now the collapse of organizations and the social disruption of people unable to deal with each other - true now, but even more so - will come as a shock and be "surprising".
A couple of things have changed for the better since WuFlu; 1) restaurant tables and bars are actually cleaned now, not just swiped with a wet bar rag, 2) Many of our enemies have revealed themselves for what they are, fascists yearning for our enslavement or death, 3) many of our friends have likewise stood up. The lines in our divided society are clearer now, and I for one, think that's A Very Good Thing.
DeleteI don't belong to a church; I don't feel the need for an intermediary, my relationship with God is personal and direct.
Boat Guy
Remote participation has it's place, but it shouldn't re-place the face-to-face.
DeleteA superb post, Tuna. You've hit many of the sore spots of "what's wrong with this country" as of many of the commenters (brilliant comments BTW).
ReplyDeleteYes, it's all part and parcel of the Left's drive to destroy our heritage and our culture. May they rot in Hell for that.
You've given me much to think about.
(And I adore the view from your workplace.)
Superb? Your bar is low. It's me just lamenting the state of society to some extent. But thanks.
DeleteNah man, your post generated some great and thoughtful comments.
DeleteYour laments are awesome.
Tuna, it was a great post. It obviously touched a chord, which makes for thought and discussion, which makes it a great post.
DeleteThanks gents
DeleteRegarding your Mustang Club, any chance of recruiting new Knights there?
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, the active vs inactive members. Wife and I were very active in the SCA until we couldn't be, and then nobody stepped up and took our places. Instead, there's a huge hole that remains, to this day, unfilled. Just our participation at the SCA portion of our local renfaire was far more than most other people in our group.
Dunno. Younger people seem less willing to work, less willing to help out even when asked. And also seem to be less energetic and physically active. When I was busting heads at 50yoa (and rotund, which is a shape...) I had more energy and stamina than people 10 years or more younger than me. And I'd be first in armor and last out of armor and do 4-5 more fighting than the younger 'kids.'
It's a national problem in urban areas. Sadly. Oh, well, the coming collapse of civilization will weed out the weak ones...
Not really. There are 2 joiners already in, but they aren't do-ers unfortunately.
DeleteIf I may (this can be a very touchy topic - for some) "...people just aren't joiners these days,.."
ReplyDeleteI look upon The Church with fondness; it was the mainstay of Western Civilization during the Dark Ages.
I began going to Mass with my Irish and Italian friends during the early '50s (not the same parishes) and when I went away to college, I joined a fraternity that was >75% Catholic; I felt more at home, so to speak.
I'm Jewish; a conservative Jewish Conservative, one who, at an earlier time, gave Uncle Sam a blank check (and would again today, but I'm no longer wanted).
Attending Mass with friends today is an entirely different experience than it was in the '50s - and I don't think it's because I'm older; the Mass has, for me anyway, lost the mystery, sanctity, and spirituality that awed me as a youngster. It was holy is the best way I can put it (and I knew Latin; it wasn't an unfamiliar language; we had to take it in school).
A similar problem has arisen in the synagogues/shuls but here I can ascribe (perhaps?) a reason.
In the '70s there was a strong push to imitate/emulate(?) the Israelis: a change in the pronounciation of the Hebrew used in prayer; the language was now Sephardic Hebrew opposed to Ashkenazic Hebrew, the language in which I'd been taught to pray since I was a little kid; sounded foreign to my ear, did G-d still understand my prayers? (I understand why, but strongly disagree with the reasoning.)
The music to which the prayers were chanted was no longer the mournful Russo-Polish/semi-mid-Eastern tunes, but a far more aggressive, militaristic marching song, did G-d still hear my prayers or did the atonality offend His ears?
The rabbi's sermon no longer was an explanation in plain English of the week's reading, but a political (far left) polemic.
And you ask me why I've drifted away from the shul, from organized Judaism?
I still believe very strongly in G-d: a Mosaic G-d. I still follow the 10 Commandments; strictly with the exception of the 4th (I have always been unable to leave a patient dangling or in someone else's hands; I'll argue the point when the time comes).
Perhaps it's not that people aren't joiners, but that the organizations which always had a plethora of volunteers have changed and are no longer the same ones we felt so strongly about joining.
What you are describing is the elimination of The Mysteries, that which made worship a 'magical' experience. By humanizing everything, nothing feels sacred anymore.
DeleteThe fraternal isn't as valued, but we do need it. There are benefits too, but the KofC, which has an insurance component to protect your families, is there- only open to Knights, is an optional benefit, but now men can claim to be catholic, join "online", and buy insurance without joining a council.
DeleteDumb questions:
DeleteWhat did the KofC have in the '50s, '60s, ?'70s that may be missing today? were there any major internal changes made during the turning years? did these changes attract more/less membership? was it more (perhaps not the word that should be employed - prestigious/less all-inclusive) to belong to the KofC during those years? was there more (again I'm not certain of the word - bonhomie) back then?
I've been watching this same problem occurring in several quite different (not necessarily religious) organizations over the past 20 years or so.
The volunteers are there. The key is to find what turns them on. Meetings don't, and doing the same thing all of the time doesn't, either. Social media appears to be the best contact point for attracting younger folks, but they won't hang around long if they don't find what they need. One of the needs is other younger folks. Another is a voice in whatever activities are going on. when they feel they're not being considered they will go elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteUnderstood, and agree- we struggle with getting them to a single event where we can even ask that input. Some have joined, and we never see them again.
Delete"the Mass has, for me anyway, lost the mystery, sanctity, and spirituality that awed me as a youngster. "
ReplyDeleteThat's part of what kept me from going back to the RCC, and why the Orthodox Church felt like home.
"The music to which the prayers were chanted was no longer the mournful Russo-Polish/semi-mid-Eastern tunes,"
Funny - I like the music of the Slavonic Typicon, but the Greek Typicon, heavy on the Middle Eastern/Arabic music sort of sets me on edge. Except during Holy Week and Pascha.
We have an active KFC on our main road between where I live and the bigger city. When they are having a fish fry on Friday they start 2 weeks prior and start posting signs from the interstate towards our smaller town. Since covid I think they have only have had one fry and Church in town has not had any. One on highway is very well attended back prior to covid. I wasn't able to make the last one so not sure how it did. But haven't seen any signs during Lent but hoping that next time I'll be seeing some signs.
ReplyDeleteLocal neighborhood advertising could help
Delete"Advertising" means different things to different groups. Most of us here probably think: Newspaper ads, billboards, radio and TV spots, and some local hand made signs.
DeleteBut, them young whippersnappers don't read newspapers (many of which are failing due to lack of readership and advertisers) and radio/TV is obscenely expensive for both an ad and then air time. Billboards have changed from multi-sheet pasted stuff to digital billboards with a flashy message exposure sold in increments of a "blip" maybe 6-10 seconds.
Most young folks get their sales pitches via social media, and I don't have a clue how that works. But apparently the data brokers data mine from every place we visit on the web, all our credit card transactions, geographic locations via cell phone data and auto GPS, supermarket loyalty card scanned purchases, etc. Yeah, all that stuff is out there, for sale to anyone who wants to buy it - the political parties have already got it and will (or will not) contact you if they think you can be suckered into voting for their kleptocrats instead of the other kleptocrats.
So, advertising- great idea, but we older folks have a huge knowledge gap between concept and execution. And, the costs are high, although good advertising will reach a target demographic a lot more than just an ad in the old classifieds back in the day.
JB
"Superb? Your bar is low. It's me just lamenting the state of society to some extent. But thanks."
ReplyDeleteSuperb. Superlative. Stirred up lots of thoughts and emotions. Generated lots of long, well thought out comments on both personal and societal conditions.
Your lamentation seems to have resonated with many of your loyal readers.
TARE VICTOR GEORGE
I appreciate your comments.
ReplyDelete