Church Road Trips

Beyond the Ordinary, a PCUSA denominational blog, posted a very interesting survey that analyzes travel time to church versus level of church involvement.

The topic piques my interest because our former church was a 12 minute drive from home while our new church is 25 minutes away on a Sunday morning (longer during peak traffic times!). While we would not have joined a church that far away when our children were growing up, it is well worth the drive to us now. Our level of involvement is almost as high as it was at the other church and I would say that the difference is accounted for more by a desire to focus our efforts than by distance, although there is no doubt distance is a factor.

Interestingly, the survey says that there is little difference in participation among those who travel 30 minutes or less to church, which would be the group we fall into. That surprised me. I would have guessed that a difference in participation showed up at 15 or 20 minutes. According to the survey, only 3% of church-goers travel more than 30 minutes to their church and their participation rates are sharply down.

I think that one of the things this survey shows is that more churches can reach out farther geographically into the community than they think they can to attract members.

How far do you travel to attend church? What difference has distance made in choosing your church home?

Weekend TSA Follies

El Jefe and I are back from a little weekend jaunt that involved air travel. Along the way, we observed some Transportation Safety Administration practices that seem, well, just plain foolish, mean, insensitive or inhumane.

Herewith a summary:

1. We were directed to go through what I assume is an experiemental detector at one airport. It's not like a metal detector. Instead of walking through it, you stop while jets of air puff around you. Then you wait for about 30 seconds before the door opens and you can move through it. This takes a significantly longer time to clear than the ordinary metal detector so it will doubtless increase waiting time to get through security if everyone has to go through it. There was no explanation offered, so I don't know what advantage it presumably offers over your ordinary metal detector.

2. While waiting to board, we got into a conversation with an attractive woman toting some pecan pies from a Houston restaurant to take home for Thanksgiving. She was still irate over her treatment by the TSA that morning. It seems that she called the agency in advance and asked if (or how) she could carry a couple of quarts of bourbon sauce that goes with the pies onboard. She said she was assured that would be ok if they were in marked containers from the restaurant. At the security checkpoint, however, the TSA agents confiscated them and teased her saying, "we're sure going to enjoy this!" El Jefe suggested that she should have poured it out rather than give it up to them. But hindsight is always 20/20.

3. We saw an elderly woman, head and spine bent almost double with arthritis, struggling to maintain her balance on a cane while undergoing a body search before being allowed to resume her seat in the wheelchair. The poor thing couldn't raise her head at all. Come on, people, this is stu-pid and seems inhumane.

4. Our flight was delayed for takeoff at one airport for about half an hour after we boarded. Finally the flight attendants announced that the TSA notified them that a passenger who had already boarded the plane must return to security for additional procedures. What? His wife and daughter and luggage were already on the plane. Time passed. The flight attendants, obviously frustrated, told us that the TSA refused to send an official to the gate (which was at the end of the terminal) and insisted that the passenger come all the way back to them. More time passed. Then a young Asian woman (Filipino or Malayasian would be my guess) and her toddler daughter came down the aisle with their luggage. Tears were streaming silently down her face. The flight attendants apologized for the delay and we took off. El Jefe and I assumed that because of other passengers' connecting flights, the young family was either given the choice of continuing without dad or getting off the plane.

Really, y'all, our country can do better than this! Another job for the Mom of Congress.