By MATT POTTER
RADICAL JOY — CATHOLIC STEWARDSHIP AND ABUNDANCE
Like so many of the faithful in our diocese, I attended Mass on Easter Sunday at my parish. As the crowd was filing in and the church was filling up, the music director came forward and said “If you are looking for a seat, there are open pews here in front.”
The irony in that statement was not lost on me. If one attends a concert with general-admission seating, inevitably people will stand in line for hours or days to rush in and choose the seats closest to the stage. But in a typical Catholic church, regardless of parish or diocese, on the holiest of days in the liturgical calendar, the choice seats are at the back.
I have attended Catholic fundraising events where the auction items have included reserved seating in the front row for Christmas or Easter Mass. If a parish wanted to make a lot of money, they could offer the pews in the last row for bid as premium seating.
We Catholics love our back-pew seating. Perhaps it is from a sense of humility or a desire to just not be noticed. That also is ironic in that, while we perceive that we are hidden from view, when Father is looking out at the assembled congregation, there is no hiding. Everyone is seen.
I don’t know why we fill the church from the back to the front; but regardless of the reason, in a broader sense, we need more front-sitters. Probably 80% of people sit towards the back, while 20% are at towards the front.
Which brings us to the Pareto Principle. Developed by economist Vilfredo Pareto, it says that 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes. Taken to a level with which we are perhaps more familiar, 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.
I have seen this play out in parishes. When an event is planned and volunteers are sought, those doing the planning inevitably call on the same people to do the work for this event as they have for every other event. It’s that 20% who get the call and agree to help out – again and again. Organizers do this because they are confident that the 20% will agree to help – and they will know what to do.
The only problem is that it leaves the 80% uninvolved. At times, some of the 80% will volunteer to help out, only to be ignored by the 20%. Some in the 20% will exclude those they don’t know and ignore those who are new to the event. This does not happen all the time, but it is common enough in church circles that it elicits a lot of head-nodding when discussed. The end result of this kind of soft-shunning is the 80% will quit offering to help – and the 20% then complain they can’t get any volunteers.
It would be best if the 20% opened their arms to new folks, welcoming their offers of help. The 80% then need to keep offering to help in spite of the possibility of rejection. Finally, parish leadership could start asking new people to get involved instead of turning to the same people time and time again.
Stewardship calls us to give our entire lives to God, not just our money. Sometimes, that means volunteering to serve chicken dinners at a summer social even when you’ve never done it before. It also means welcoming in that new person even if you have been serving chicken dinners at the summer social for 10 years.
If you are a back-pew sitter – the 80% – try moving up to the front. If you are a front-pew sitter – the 20% – scoot in to the middle and let some new people experience how you see things.
It would be nice if we never heard “there are seats available up front” again.
As always, thanks for reading. I would love to hear from you. Write to me at [email protected].