Back in August, I had approached my pastor about an LBGBTQIA+ Parenting course that I had seen being offered by a prominent women’s study leader. I told her I’d love to do the course, but not alone. She proposed that we meet and discuss options along with the associate pastor.
On September 4th we met. They asked me to lead participants through the course. I was hesitant because, quite frankly, I get very anxious around leadership roles, especially in the church. I don’t mind being behind the scenes as a leader, but putting myself out in front is not something I do willingly. However, I felt like this was an important demographic to reach, so I agreed. The associate pastor purchased the course right away and sent me the login instructions so I could figure out how I wanted to break it up and when to start.
At the time, I had all sorts of reasons to start right after Fall Break. However, as the weeks went by with staggered responses to my emailed questions, I worried that we were not getting the word out soon enough to pull anyone in. I emailed the associate pastor and suggested that maybe we needed to postpone in order to give ourselves more time to reach out to the community. I got no response, but a few days later the above graphic showed up in the church newsletter.
It showed up less than two weeks before the first session. That first session is supposed to be today. I’ve tried sharing it on FB and asking friends to share it, but I honestly don’t know a single person that is planning to attend. The church did not add it to their FB page or the website because their media representative was out of town. They didn’t announce it in service or address it in any way.
So, this morning when the pastor asked me how I felt about tonight I told her honestly “A little lost.” She looked surprised. I explained that I didn’t know where we were meeting or if anyone would be there. She suggested I talk to the church manager about the room. As soon as service was over, I went to the manager, and he told me where we’d be. I asked if it had a TV or computer, as I’d need both. Turns out it has a TV, but no computer. It does have an HDMI cable to hook up a laptop, but I needed a special dongle to get my laptop to connect. He helped me locate one. As we traipsed around the church, he said he had no idea this was even a thing until he was asked to put it into the newsletter and that usually they wanted at least three weeks of lead time before an event. This had less than two.
So tonight, I am not expecting anyone to show up. I’m not sure if I should be glad or sad. Honestly, I’m a tiny bit mad because I feel like I was set up for failure. No, I don’t think the associate pastor did this intentionally. Not at all. He’s very supportive of the community. However, the way this all played out was not conducive to making it a success.
If no one shows up, I will reschedule for January, I think. That will give me plenty of time to get the word out to the community. I’m not sure if I should hope no one shows up so we can do that or if I should hope to have at least a couple of people show and have a super small group. I think the hardest would be if one person shows. Then what do I do? I guess the two of us can go through the course together and maybe they would be willing to help me lead another group in January? I guess we’ll see what happens. It’s very difficult to not know what to expect tonight. I’m going to try to leave it in God’s hands and rest in the knowledge that whatever happens is up to Him.
Update:
I waited for 20 minutes. No one showed up. I really didn’t expect anyone to be there, but it’s disappointing, nonetheless. I sent an email to the pastor and associate pastor explaining my frustration about the lack of promotion. I received a response from the lead pastor, but still haven’t heard from the associate pastor. I think this is an important topic and demographic. I don’t want to give up on it. I plan to try again but will ask to be more involved in the promotion aspect. It can’t be a last-minute thing. It has to be intentional.
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