Proclaimer Blog
Unread emails and self-discipline
A week away and I have 200 unread emails (not counting the trash) to sort through. That's pretty dispiriting, I have to be honest. Email is far too easy a tool. It's immensely useful (of course), but cc'ing someone in or, worse still, sending someone an email and thinking that means it's on their radar and action plan, are both too easy. I'm as guilty of doing this as much as the next man I guess, but I still know that this kind of mentality can be harmful in church life. The bottom line is that it requires some self-discipline to manage – this is especially true if, as in most churches, you're not blessed with a church administrator and secretary to give some help.
I think we need to engender a culture in our churches where issues (in particular) are resolved face to face rather than via email. And if we try to sort things out by firing off emails, we mustn't be surprised if we get a whole load back! So, here's a discipline for a preacher.
- something not quite right about the service? Try a phone call to the music leader, rather than an email.
- something you want to pick up on in the sermon preached by an elder last week? Try a coffee and chat one morning early rather than an email.
- something you want to respond to – perhaps a criticism sent in an email? Try calling the plaintiff, rather than concocting a five page defence.
Emails are useful of course (particularly for sharing information). But it seems to me that replacing face-to-face real interaction can damage churches in the long term and come back to bite you, as you will give the entire congregation carte blanche to contact you in the same way. We lead congregations of God's people. Not businesses.