Today we had a meeting to review the Barnival held the weekend before last. It was a good meeting, with nine people present and a lot of energy. We all agreed that the Barnival had been a success and we'd like to do it again next year.
Having said that, we then launched into an energetic discussion of how we could improve things next year. We covered all the major areas of the Barnival planning process and came up with some good ideas. Click here to read my meeting notes if you want the details.
What I think is interesting is the way we went from the Barn Sale last year to the Barnival this year. The Barn Sale was on its last legs, with little participation and a lot of unhappiness over too few people doing too much work. It was once a very lively event, but it had just run its course.
We held a meeting last winter to discuss alternatives for fund raising, but we didn't come up with any firm decisions. Later the BC set a deadline: if no chair came forward, we would cancel the Barn Sale. No one stepped forward, so the Barn Sale quietly died.
That left the door open for something new, and Marty Whitaker stepped forward with some fresh ideas and a vision for a new event. She named it "Barnival", and once we got the idea, off we went.
We had a core of about 10 people who did some crash planning. Although we started late, we got a lot done in a short time and we were able to pull it off. Marty and John and Janet Steller put in a lot of time and energy to make sure we were on our way. Other people came on board, and when the day came, the event was a success, despite the drizzle and a few unexpected glitches.
What impresses me was how we were able to let go of something old and allow something new to be born. Sounds a lot like death and resurrection. A parish must find ways to revitalize itself or else it will die. I think we did a good job in making the transition from the old to the new, and I think it's a good sign for other changes that we'll make to become a revitalized parish.
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