One way to distinguish a well-functioning church from one less well functioning is how it treats its novices — the “noob” or “newbie” — and that includes those entering ministerial life. We were all novices once, and failing to guide and shape the new and inexperienced is no credit to one’s expertise.
A bit of advice from Yehuda Katz, working from a different field where the same phenomenon is alive and well. A good start for Unitarian Universalists: stop the pretense of being so heroic and unique, and drop the frickin’ acronyms.
HT: Luigi Montanez, with whom I work.
Yes there are plenty of people in other religions who are inclusive and tolerant – I think we forget that sometimes!
Far too often churches of many stripes cloak their activities in a code that is hard for the new folks to understand. It isn’t just acronyms, but also jargon that can’t be understood by those without deep church-roots. For example, if Bob has not been to church since he was 7, and I tell him something is in the “nave”, will he know where that is?