Paul was headed to a school board meeting this evening with six copies of a paper about a possible play area or gym (please please) for our school. He wrote it up today, explaining how the idea came about, the meetings that have been had, the options before us, and where we should go from here.
I did an extensive edit of his paper before he left because the unfortunate truth is that Paul is thorough but very wordy. "As we discussed these figures at the meeting it became evident that most at the meeting would lean a certain direction, but it also became evident that this decision encompasses the entire church and needs to be decided on by the entire church." Whack whack whack. And I think the result was a tight but thorough presentation.
(Paul asks for my editing and appreciates it, which is sweeter than I would be.)
One thing that amused me was his use of the word "facilities"--". . .outgrowing some parts of our school facilities" etc. It put me back to our little country church in Minnesota that we had inherited from the Methodists and which came complete with two little white outhouses beside it, back by the bushes, and we will not discuss what it was like to use these during Minnesota winters.
Finally the day came when people started pushing for decent restrooms. I think it ended up with a new wing out the south side of the church that included classrooms and a ping pong area and yes, heated restrooms with flush toilets.
This somehow could not come about without many long, protracted, extended meetings and poorly-chaired discussions that seemed to go nowhere, mostly after regular evening services, so I was obligated to attend.
Anyway. What I remember about those meetings is that the bishop seemed embarrassed to mention outhouses and restrooms and such. So he always called them "facilities." The current outdoor facilities, the need for indoor facilities, the kind of facilities we want.
As I said, the new wing was eventually built, and the old outhouses stood there for years, gently rotting, and to this day I will tell my kids that excuse me, I need to go use the facilities.
Quote of the Day:
Me: Hi Matt
Matt: Hi. (Pause, cheesy grin) Is that enough conversation for one day?
(after I had told him he needs to stop being such a hermit)
Very interesting about your methodist church with the 2 outhouses.
ReplyDeleteWe bought our church from the Methodist years ago, and just an added note of interest, the land was donated by the Queen of Englad I think. Anyway... it has 2 little white outhouses behind the church. And we STILL use them.
We cannot get approved to add bathrooms and so... outhouses are better than nothing.
Thankfully we live very close to the church and when I am in the middle of potty training my children, I run home between Sunday school and the sermon to take them potty. :-)
Rachel
Amusing anecdote about meetings. You should write a post explaining how to have effective meetings. Meetings are too often those loathsome times when people tend to bring up an idea, then spend the next hour rehashing, arguing, and debating the same idea from every possible angle. That is, if they're not chaired properly with an individual that can jump in after 15 min. of repeated information and say, "OK, let's come to a consensus, decision, etc". Great writing by the way. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteMy husband had an uncle who was known for his malapropisms. He once greeted some visitors to our church school with this auspicious welcome: "Please, just enjoy yourselves! Embrace the facilities!" Needless to say, we have chewed that over and over! LOL What a word picture...I think his audience took the same connotation (sp?) from his comment that you lent in your post. =D
ReplyDeleteGASP! Amish church with a ping pong table?????? How modern!
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember those meetings, somewhat. Yet the thing I remember was that someone, I don't know whom, was insistent that these gender separated facilities should be very separated, not by a flimsy wall but by a walk through hallway, so that one gender could not hear the flushing noises of the other gender. I wonder how that got discussed when the discussion moderator was already embarrassed.
ReplyDelete