I've
always wanted a model railroad set.
But not the typical Lionel box cars or Tyco Santa Fe classic
freights. That’s not the trains I grew up seeing. I grew up
seeing the “E” train of the IND division of New York’s
Metropolitan Transit Authority. That’s the train I wanted
circling my bedroom. But, of course, there isn't a real big
demand for New York City subway trains across middle class (i.e.
white) America. Most serious train collectors are, more often
than not, looking for the classic freight trains rolling across
Kansas. I didn't grow up in Kansas. I grew up in East New York,
where the J, M, N, A and other trains intersected at this
massive overhead labyrinth, a spidery and foreboding place
called East New York Station that looked like something out of a
scary science fiction film, with all of its crossing tracks and
metal beams and railing and such.
I wanted to recreate the images from my youth, as opposed to
being forced to settle for someone else’s youth. I wanted the
“E” train. So, imagine my delight when, about three years ago, I
discovered, in a specialty catalog, gasp! HO Gauge NYC Subway
trains and cars. They had to be special ordered, but, oh, man, I
was completely excited and enthused. I raced down to a local
troy and hobby shop here in town, showed the guy the catalog
item and told him I wanted a bunch of cars and tracks and
station and the whole nine yards. Total price, around $500.
Steep for toy trains, but this was what I'd waited my entire
life for. Spare no expense!
The store clerk seemed less than enthused about taking my order.
He kept me waiting at the counter a long time while he helped
other people and asked the manager thus and so and wandered here
and there. Then he took down my order info and telephone number
and said he'd call next week. Next week came and went. Then
another. On the third week, I called them, got the run around,
waited some more. It’s been three years. I'm still waiting. So,
here’s a guy, standing in your store with $500 that he wants to
give to you. That he’s excited and happy about giving to you.
And you just blow him off. That’s an idiot thing to do. I guess,
as a Christian, I shouldn't call the guy an idiot, but that’s
what he was. That was a sale, a rather big sale, that he lost
just by not following up and not being professional.
A casual drive around Colorado Springs reveals a great many
massive edifices, glorious buildings on huge parcels of
immaculately landscaped lawn, flags whipping in the breeze,
spacious parking lots. These are the white and Asian churches in
town. Many of these places share common attributes: coffee bars
in the lobby (and, yes, you can take your coffee right into the
auditorium— it’s an auditorium, not a sanctuary), multi-media
teams that handle large projection screens and theater lighting
to enhance the service. Children's’ Church and nursery
facilities that provide age-specific ministry (as opposed to
forcing bored and fussy kids to sit through our holler and hoop
endless services). Friendly and informed staff who greet you
warmly and are helpful and attentive to your needs and your
safety.
Not every white or Latino or Asian church in town is equally
endowed, but the point I am making is, in the aggregate, most
white churches have greater resources and assets than black
churches. Most black churches aspire to these things (well,
probably not the coffee and cappuccino; we're not yet mature
enough to stop seeing the auditorium as sacred ground, even
though merely assigning a sacred status to the auditorium or the
pulpit— as many black churches do— is, in fact, a form of
idolatry Jesus' death, the splitting of the veil (Luke
23:44-46), was intended to do away with).
But, in the majority, we're not ready or able to do some of the
things that are now standard fare for white churches because,
frankly, we don't have the budget for it. Assets and resources
cost money. Money is, typically, the result of membership.
Membership comes by visitors having a positive experience with
God and with your church.
Which brings us back to my toy train.
That’s a store I will never shop in again. Those guys lied to
me. They, for whatever reason, were not interested in ordering
my train. Why? I don't know. And, I really don't care. Visitors
to your church who have a bad experience also likely won't care
about the reasons why. They'll just remember they had a bad time
and that emotional tag will be hung on your ministry forever.
The number one reason ministries do not grow is they are run
like this guy’s hobby shop. They are run like a bad business. If
you want that nursery, you've got to take care of business. You
want that new building, you've got to take care of business. You
want more resources and more programs, you want to provide the
same level of ministry our brothers and sisters in other ethnic
groups can afford? Well, here’s where you start:
Return my phone call.
I knew, from the beginning, that getting this website up and
running would be a real challenge. Not the computer code or the
graphics— that I could control. I knew the challenge would be in
getting the attention of church folk in this town. When I say
“church folk,” I am invariably referring to black churchgoers,
as white churchgoers are usually spoken of as Christians, while
we tend to refer to ourselves as church folk. I can. most
likely, call any white church in town and get a call back within
twenty-four hours. In fact, in 25 years of ministry, six of them
here in this town, I have never once failed to get a return call
from a white church. These days, I can eMail a white church and
receive a reply within the same time span, typically twenty-four
hours. The black church, on the other hand, is, typically, a
dead letter office.
Of the forty-one phone calls I made to various black churches
introducing the PraiseNet, I received about seven callbacks. Of
the seven, two were within 24 hours, another two came in the
Monday after the weekend (still reasonable), and the remaining
three came at odd times later in the week. I only sent out a
handful of eMails to black churches because the majority of
black churches either have no eMail or do not make that
information available on their church bulletins or voicemail
(while the majority of white churches in town have both eMail
and a web site). Of the few eMails I sent out, I received no
replies at all (I received two replies after sending follow-up
eMails, those replies taking roughly four or more days to come).
If you ran a business this way, you'd be out on the street.
If you call ENT Federal Credit Union, for instance, ENT is bound by company policy to return your call within one business day. You can call ENT now, whatever time now is, leave a message, and your phone should start ringing early the very next business day. If you eMail most online businesses, you will receive an immediate automated confirmation of receipt, and, typically, a living person will eMail you back within twenty-four hours.
