St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

In our "Questions to the clergy" slot, John will try to answer any query you throw at him, without hesitation, deviation or repetition...

Keeping track of the missing?

Q. I haven’t been in church for a few weeks, but no-one seems to have noticed and come to visit me. What’s going on?

(This is a compilation of several issues and comments - it isn’t a particular person asking it.)

A. The sad fact is that I’m not very good at visiting, and as a church we aren’t very good at spotting when people are missing.

Small churches are better at it because it’s more obvious if everyone knows everyone else. And large churches often have a system of housegroup leaders or registers for keeping track of people. But middle-sized churches like ours struggle with it.

Sometimes people go off on holiday for several weeks, and we get used to them being absent for up to a month every now and again. If they suddenly go into hospital, we may not realize until a couple of months later that this isn’t just another holiday.

Sometimes people are erratic in their attendance anyway. Their health may be poorer, and they may find it hard to get up in the morning. So if they’re missing we may assume it’s just coincidence they’ve been away a few times.

And sometimes somebody tells me (the vicar) and I forget. The time between services is very pressured, with lots of people saying lots of things, and another service to get ready for. There have been quite a few times when someone has told me something that I’ve completely forgotten by the end of the morning.

And lastly, some people don’t like being visited, and I am not keen on upsetting the apple-cart poking my nose in where it is not wanted.

And so ... the truth is, we need some help. Here’s the help we would like.

1. If you’d like a visit, please ring us and tell us. And if we don’t come, please ring again.
2. If you notice that someone who usually comes has been missing for a while, please tell us. Please don’t assume we already know. And if it looks like I’ve forgotten, please tell me again.
3. If you know the person, please don’t be shy about popping round yourself just to check they are OK. You’ll probably find they’re quite grateful for your concern.
4. Please accept my apologies and don’t give up on me. It may be hard to accept that your vicar is not perfect, but you may like to remember he has special-needs children of his own, who tend to use up his mental energy.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. June 2009, Page 4.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (June 2009) Trinity, Prayer, Question, Song, Chorltons. Other questions.	In our "Questions to the clergy" slot, John will try to answer any query you throw at him, without hesitation, deviation or repetition... Keeping track of the missing? Q. I haven’t been in church for a few weeks, but no-one seems to have noticed and come to visit me. What’s going on? (This is a compilation of several issues and comments - it isn’t a particular person asking it.) A. The sad fact is that I’m not very good at visiting, and as a church we aren’t very good at spotting when people are missing. Small churches are better at it because it’s more obvious if everyone knows everyone else. And large churches often have a system of housegroup leaders or registers for keeping track of people. But middle-sized churches like ours struggle with it. Sometimes people go off on holiday for several weeks, and we get used to them being absent for up to a month every now and again. If they suddenly go into hospital, we may not realize until a couple of months later that this isn’t just another holiday. Sometimes people are erratic in their attendance anyway. Their health may be poorer, and they may find it hard to get up in the morning. So if they’re missing we may assume it’s just coincidence they’ve been away a few times. And sometimes somebody tells me (the vicar) and I forget. The time between services is very pressured, with lots of people saying lots of things, and another service to get ready for. There have been quite a few times when someone has told me something that I’ve completely forgotten by the end of the morning. And lastly, some people don’t like being visited, and I am not keen on upsetting the apple-cart poking my nose in where it is not wanted. And so ... the truth is, we need some help. Here’s the help we would like. 1. If you’d like a visit, please ring us and tell us. And if we don’t come, please ring again. 2. If you notice that someone who usually comes has been missing for a while, please tell us. Please don’t assume we already know. And if it looks like I’ve forgotten, please tell me again. 3. If you know the person, please don’t be shy about popping round yourself just to check they are OK. You’ll probably find they’re quite grateful for your concern. 4. Please accept my apologies and don’t give up on me. It may be hard to accept that your vicar is not perfect, but you may like to remember he has special-needs children of his own, who tend to use up his mental energy. John Hartley
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