No appreciation from the church (5/4/2022)
About twenty years ago I started going to one of the local churches. Not because I’m a deeply religious person but the true reason was that I needed some supportive people in my life.
My marriage was not a success, to put it mildly, and I was living under pressure with no one to talk to.
I met some very friendly people who made me feel welcome and the services provided the warmth and inspiration that I was looking for.
After a while I felt that I should contribute to this community, and I went to see one of the pastors. I offered to make a web site that could be not only a source of information for members but also could help spread the word and attract people who were unfamiliar with the church.
The pastor agreed that it was a great idea and he promised to help me get all the necessary information.
I went to work and got the domain name and the hosting, for which I paid out of my own pocket. Then came the time where the actual content had to be added.
Every Friday a bulletin was printed regarding the services and activities for the coming week. I asked to have the bulletin faxed to me so I could ad it to the site. The first week I received it in time, the second week I had to call and remind them to send it to me. The third week I had to call a few times, etc.
I also asked for biographies and photos of the pastors. Despite repeated promises I never got them.
The church also failed to promote the site. I was hoping it would be mentioned in the services, and at least it should have been give some attention in the weekly bulletins. It didn’t happen, there was no co-operation whatsoever.
At some point I told the pastor that if I could not get obtain the material that I needed I would have to take the site down. His answer was disappointing, to say the least: “Just take it down.”
The site was removed that same day and apparently no one ever noticed. I was not upset about the time I had spent on it; I did feel that I hadn’t been taken seriously. And my attempt to make a worthwhile contribution had failed, and not of my own doing.
