Thursday, January 18, 2007

But... We've Always Done It That Way!

Reposted from the ADF thread, to make it easier to see...

A general comment, that may actually be of use here:

The one generalization I can draw from this is that volunteer organizations seem to hit a "comfortable" level of doing things and stay there forever, or until there is a massive membership revolt. Things are done the way they've always been done because it's familiar or comfortable that way... or that's the way it was done when the leadership joined, etc.

I wonder how often our religious groups fall into that "we do it the same way we've always done it" mindset? Note that I'm not talking about using an established liturgy over and over, or something else with a very good justification. Just things that, when questioned, can only be answered with "we've always done it that way".
Thoughts?

I can't think of any examples from my coven, but the church I grew up in (and that my parents still attend) was a shining example of "we've always done it that way". They never properly advertise anything they do down there, because they seem convinced that it's still 1960 and all attendees live in the neighborhood and will see a cardboard advert down by the "Welcome to the Neighborhood" sign.

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