THE BACK PAGE
It's tempting to allow our ministry to revolve around what can be photocopied.
Steven L. Mckinley
October 1, 1991
Because I was the only one in the church office at the time, I took the phone call from the good folks who sold us our photocopy machine five years ago.
The caller wanted me to look at the little dials that tell how many copies we have made. Our monthly service contract fee is based on our usage.
Afterward, I sat back and thought about it. In five years we have made nearly 750,000 copies. Three-quarters of a million! I got out my paper and pencil and went to work.
We use a lot of legal-sized paper for bulletins and so forth. Figure that half of the 750,000 went into legal-sized copies, half into letter-sized. That totals nearly 148 miles of paper.
Try to picture that. Think of the distance between your home and a favorite place 150 miles away. If you think in biblical terms, picture the distance between Jerusalem and Damascus. If you are a long-distance runner, picture six marathons, back-to-back.
The number stuck in my mind. I was so obsessed that I began researching exactly how we "spent" those 150 miles of photocopies. Here's my report:
The first 125 miles turned out to be pretty routine. Bulletins. Newsletters. Annual reports. Minutes. Financial reports.
I sometimes suspect these items are interchangeable. You could send me a year's worth of yours, and I could send you a year's worth of mine, and if we would change a few names, dates, and addresses, no one would know the difference.
For example, if you are producing the January newsletter, you are reminding a few sluggards to pick up their offering envelopes from the tables in the narthex. You are thanking people for their Christmas generosity. You are reporting that there are still a few Sundays available for donating altar flowers-see the flower chart or call the church office. ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 18,013 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
| 
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
