St John's Seven Kings held its 50/50 Auction today where 50% of the sale price comes to the church. Although we had stopped holding annual auctions and hadn't held an auction for three years, this one proved very successful.
This event, as with our other social and fundraising events, is an illustration of some of the reasons why churches generate community and contribute substantially to the Big Society. Those who organised the event gave a significant amount of their time in order to arrange a successful community event that generated funds for a community group and facility. The 220+ lots were all items that were being recycled by being sold and all sellers gave 50% of their income to the church. The event also brought together a wide range of different people from our local community to meet together for a shared activity which included shared food and conversation over the viewing of lots and lunchtime refreshments.
It would of course be possible to take a cynical line about our event seeing it simply as a money making exercise which is therefore tapping into consumerism or to argue a purist line that such fundraising distracts from the Church's core mission and reinforces stereotypes of the Church as an organisation which is always asking for money. Despite this event being a combination of gift and exchange economies, both these views ignore the significant levels of giving involved in such events and the degree of community engagement and cohesion that a regular programme of such events provide. Neither of these would be features of more commercially orientated sales or auctions and both are core elements of committed Christian living.
Earlier in the week, at Redbridge's Big Society mapping event, I quoted Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, as saying “Religion creates community, community creates altruism and altruism turns us away from self and towards the common good ... There is something about the tenor of relationships within a religious community that makes it the best tutorial in citizenship and good neighbourliness.” Today's event is one small example of the point he makes being realised in practice and should be celebrated as such, particularly in a week where the main news item has forcefully demonstrated the corrupting and corrosive effect on personal, community and societal relationships of rampant aggressive consumerism.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sufjan Stevens-All Delighted People
No comments:
Post a Comment