When the Satmar Rebbe came to America he saw many empty synagogues and only a few religious schools. He said, "We will do exactly the opposite from these Americanized Jews. We will get by with small synagogues. Instead, we will build big schools with many children learning the Torah."
Friday, June 25, 2010
How Does Your Church Allocate Its Resources?
From A Life Apart: Hasidism in America:
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3 comments:
That's precisely the right approach! The Jesuits used to have a saying, "give us a child until he is 7, and he's ours for life." Education is absolutely critical in passing on faith and the worldview that such faith is based on. The current American approach for big churches and fancy physical plants is backwards when it comes to effectiveness. Far better a plain church or temple or mosque or synogogue with a robust school attached!
One other educational component of faith that should not be overlooked is the quality of the liturgy. We learn through worship. Good liturgy -- liturgy that is dignified, appropriate, conservative (in a small-c sense) and which truly embodies the worldview of the particular faith is key.
So, build schools and have good liturgy, and don't focus so much on grand churches. Tasteful plain churches (and other places of worship) are good, but the energy should be placed on education and worship.
i like the way you write.
I like the way Freeman writes, too ( a lot!), but here she quoted the Satmar Rebbe!
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