Closing the church for a third of the year?

For the past few weeks, I've tried to absorb the shock of the news that our church leaders have decided to hold no services between Memorial Day and mid-September -- nearly four solid months -- in order to save money.

I can't even begin to fathom the logic.

We are in the midst of a growing economic catastrophe, where more and more of the people in our congregation and community are struggling to stay employed and pay the bills. Many are in real pain, and they are scared. In times this tough, people need to turn to each other and to their church for solace and help. It is the worst of times to slam shut the doors.

I know from the Feb. 17 letter from the Policy Board that the church offices will remain open during the week and that ministers will still be around for pastoral care, memorial services and weddings.

But there is something uniquely sad -- and terribly wrong -- with opting to go without any Sunday services from May 17 until Sept. 13. Those services are the very essence of our church, even if some of the summertime gatherings are thinly attended.

The Policy Board knows it, too, or the letter would not say that summertime closings are merely "a temporary measure."

I can tell from the letter that many are questioning why we are paying for a second full-time minister when money is so short. I share that concern.

The Policy Board has a tough job and I don't envy anyone on it. But it has done a poor job of sharing the financial numbers that undergird this crisis. It's time for the church to be transparent, to put its finances online in every detail, to let us all see where the money comes from and where it all goes.  I can find out easily where the Town of West Hartford raises its money and where it spends it. How come the church is more secretive than the government? That makes no sense to me or to many others.

Stop telling us how we're going to cut programs and services. Instead, start asking us to look at the numbers with you, to make decisions collectively, to come to some accord on how our church should be operated. 

I have little doubt that the membership as a whole would choose to allocate funds differently, because most of us realize that keeping services going 52 weeks a year is fundamental. Having a second minister is not.