A List of Complaints Heard After Church

On July 9^th 2007, a writer named MadMonk started a discussion on WonderCafe.ca, entitled 'Top Complaints After Church', and this thread has become a billboard of unusual complaints. Indeed, the entire discussion is a fascinating window into the stressful world of religious service providers and their struggle to make Sunday enjoyable and informative.

A mild mannered writer named 'kwind' informed readers that 'My top complaint would be the times where there is too little thought or preparation of the message, too little coordination between the message and the rest of the service (ie hymns or prayers don't match the sermon), too short or too long.' And anyone can see his point. Younger ministers are often faced with the challenge of making scripture more interesting or relevant, and they sometimes deviate from the traditional presentations that older parishioners cherish.

RevJamesMurray writes that the '...Presbyterians in my last pastoral charge complain that I never visited them. It just so happened that all their neighbours were UCC (UnitedChurch of Canada). They called a few people and said, "Well the minister never comes here." They were big trouble makers.' This highlights the age old inter denominational tension between rival churches in small towns. Today it's just a complaint after church, but fifty years ago here in Canada there were brawls after church-league baseball games and riots between Catholics and Protestants during Orange Day parades.

Crazyheart writes, 'Funniest complaint that I ever heard was an elderly woman complained to me bitterly that she could see the legs of a woman in the choir. Those choir gowns are to cover you from head to toe.'.

The complaints range from sensible critiscm to personal grievances. One writer expresses a desire to see his church's 'Order of Service' actually include the exact order of service. Guitar Gal notes with annoyance how fast the ladies want to serve the coffee and cake and close the cafeteria.

Near the end of this thread (but it could be in the middle now, as the discussion continues even today) RevJamesMurray posted another priceless anecdote; a friend of mine serves an upscale church filled with managers and professionals. There are so many complaints on such a regular basis, that if there is a Sunday where there are no complaints, they actually mark it down on the wall calendar for all to see. After four years, he's getting more and more Sundays without a complaint. Sometimes a congregation has to learn how to trust their leaders. Sometimes they need to learn a vocabulary to express what is really bothering them. A lot of complaints are really about how the present world doesn't meet their expectations, or how they don't feel a part of the (post)modern world.