Friday, April 28, 2006

brass plaques

Life's full of them, especially of the 'in memoriam' variety. Having lived and worked round many items sporting such a tag in the past, I have worked out a strategy. I'm going to donate items to churches every so often with a wording something like:

Donated by Mike Peatman for no apparent reason. The moment this item becomes obsolete / an obstruction / a liability, please destroy immediately.

That ought to do it.

5 comments:

Steve Tilley said...

You win.

St

Chris said...

Tonight I have a meeting about storage in our music cupboard at church. Basic scenario is that we've bought lots of new gear that needs a home in the music cupboard. I've identified a cupboard inside the music cupboard (the music cupboard is a large walk-in affair) that could be shipped out and / or replaced with something more suitable. Curerntly it contains some music books that are used regularly, some which are used once a year, some which haven't been used since the 1955 Billy Graham concert they were purchased from. The cupboard was given in memory of someone for some reason or other...

Firstly - why do we need a meeting to sort this out?

Secondly - guess how many people are attending this meeting? The answer to this is 6 or 7 people. I'm a little baffled.

Thirdly - how long do people expect this meeting to last? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? 30 minutes? An hour?! Ick. I can tell you tomorrow.

Fourthy - I have a concern that tonights meeting may end up having no conclusion!

All that needs to happen is:

1. Identify existing cupboard doesn't need to be located where it is.
2. Move the cupboard out to create space for the new gear.

Easy.

I can even add a further point:

3. Propose to build a new cupboard for the items in the existing cupboard to live if they do indeed need to be stored in the music cupboard.

I'll let you know what happens if you like.

Chris

Mike Peatman said...

Fantastic, Chris

This is exactly the sort of wasted person-hours that get spent on these kind of things. Maybe we need some stickers to leave anonymously in churches all over the coutry to mark out junk that needs to go.

Mike

Chris said...

I turned up 5 minutes late for the meeting with an ice cream in my mouth (I thought that was a nice touch). 7 people in attendance (I think I counted right). Various options looked at. Tape measures came out. 45 minutes later I went home.

Conclusion - the cupboard in question is being moved out of the music cupboard to create space for the new bits of sound equipment.

Our organist is not happy about it.

Apparently it's not the cupboard that was the issue, but the attitude of some people (I presume they mean me) that our traditional 9am service is not as important as our more contemporary 10:45am service. "Where did that come from?" I found myself asking myself. Apparently that's what people think my attitude is. It isn't. They do not know me.

Another point - can I guarantee that people will put things away properly and keep the large music cupboard tidy? Err. No. I do myself, but can't vouch for others!

Remind me why I voluntarily do stuff for the church? Build sound systems, lead worship, help with youth group and summer club, fix computers, sort out the hearing aid loop etc, etc... I know it's not for the thanks and appreciation... but it would be nice sometimes.

Mike Peatman said...

Yeah, it's just as well there is treasure in heaven, because it's sometimes pretty thankless down here!

There is something about church music that's very difficult to define that makes people behave irrationally. Maybe it's because music used to be the only way lay people could have a significant say and role in shaping worship.

Although things have changed for lay participation (in some churches) the dynamics and emotional investment remains the same. It would also explain why the 'old' generation resent the 'new' generation of music people. We don't appreciate what it meant to them or something.

Just a theory.

Hang on in there, Chris, and just keep doing what you do graciously.

Would love to hear more on the fate of the cupboard.