A Tale of Two Restrooms

A Tale of Two Restrooms

Nearly forty years ago I was about to take up a position as Rector of the parish of Figtree in Wollongong. I was generally confident in my theology. I had been well taught at Moore Theological College including a rigorous divinity degree through London University. However, I had only had a couple years pastoral ministry and had been school teaching for the past six years. I was about to take up leadership of the parish, but I had previously been in junior positions. I had never actually run anything. On hearing of my appointment and the complexity of the parish, a clergy friend remarked that I would be jumping in at the deep end.

I wanted to prepare as much as I could for my new role and that included the leadership/management side of the parish, which another contemporary warned me that this was part of my role and if not done well could undermine other vital areas. In my reading I came across upon a writer who asked the question, ‘How can you tell from the outside if an organization is being run well and is likely to succeed?’

His answer was ‘clean restrooms’. What, you might reply, ‘Clean rest rooms, seriously!’

Yes, clean restrooms! Surely, I had not flagellated myself on Greek and Hebrew to be worrying about restrooms.

But his rationale was quite simple. The leadership that pays attention to an apparently insignificant detail like the state of the toilets, will most like pay attention to a whole host of other hidden details that, if ignored, could undermine the whole enterprise.

These thoughts came to mind when I visited two completely different establishments. The first was a local church. It was a great church in many ways with a range of friendly people, able ministers and a faithful gospel message. However, the restrooms were in a very poor shape. They were clean but rather tattered and shabby. The impression was so noticeable that my wife Helen independently commented on the appearance of the ladies.

By contrast on another occasion, we attended an evening at a brewery restaurant where we knew a number of members of the very entertaining band. I need to stress that I was raised a teetotalling methodist so going to a brewery is not my natural scene. Do I open myself up to the accusation of being a wowser? Well, yes, possibly but I am getting too old to be overly concerned.

I visited the brewery restroom and found it sparkling. Now the place was full and pumping and the restrooms must have been taking pretty heavy traffic. Yet the management must have put in place a system to ensure a pristine condition.

What does all this have to do with raising resources for ministry? It’s simple. The average parishioners attend Sunday.  They know the ministers do something during the week, but they are not entirely sure what. They will judge what they cannot see on the basis of what they can see. If they see the restrooms or the gardens or the paint work in a run-down condition, they will subconsciously evaluate the rest of the ministry, which is largely invisible, by what their eyes declare to them. Thus, when the leadership asks for resources for some project or ministry to advance the kingdom, congregational members will subconsciously wonder ‘if they don’t clean the restrooms, will they properly use the money?’

Naturally there are many features that influence members’ giving but having confidence in the church as a whole is certainly a major factor and a litmus test can simply be the state of the restrooms. For more on this and other topics, see my book Giving Generously https://givinggenerously.com/buy-the-book-2/