A story in
the NY Times deals with another hard-hit group of victims of the
recession: preachers. The number of available pastoring jobs has not kept pace
with the numbers of individuals answering the “call” to set themselves up as
custodians of souls.
Preaching
has always struck me as a fairly cushy gig, consisting largely of comforting
the afflicted with platitudes and parsing the word of God on Sunday – which may
be why there’s such a glut of job seekers in this segment of the market. (The
Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches reports that there are more than
600,000 ministers in the U. S. but just 338,000 churches.)
My advice to
these particular unemployed, short of counseling them to remember Jesus’s
precept about tomorrow taking care of itself, would be to do what so many
others do when they can’t find anyone to hire them: go into business for
yourself.
Start on any
street corner. “Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there am I.”
(Jesus again.) Voila! You’re a church, and therefore tax-exempt. Pass the
plate. If you take in anything, you’ve made money your very first day in
business, and it all went into your pocket. How many entrepreneurs can say
that?
Build on
that rock, no matter how inconsequential. The key to success, as in any other
business, is to give people what they want. Entertainment, in this case, with a
little hellfire and damnation thrown in.
Work up some good stories, develop a sound delivery, and you’ll be on
your way. If you’re good enough, you’ll be able to get people to let you sleep
and eat in their homes.
Maybe you
think I’m being facetious. But why should you expect someone to hire you if you
can’t do the job on your own?
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