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I've been involved with enough churches that are stretched so thin and trying to do so much that I can totally see how this happened. Many churches are dying in this country, but still feel like they are supposed to do all the stuff that they always did. You have the same small number of active members who are willing to help out on something, but when the reality of making 200 sandwiches sinks in and passing the plate yet again to pay for them, and then the people who show up don't even say thank you and expect that you serve them and give them more. The volunteers are human and are like "fuck this shit."
You need a better spokesperson though to talk to the press and explain that it's a resource issue. The church doesn't have the resources to continue doing this, but is going to continue to collect food to pass along to the food bank. The pastor was probably on sabbatical, and Alrene, who normally leads these things was getting her foot amputated because the diabetes was progressing. She would have known what to say.
[And re-reading the article, I was clearly wrong about the pastor being away, since she is quoted at the start of the article. but the quote at the end of the article is somebody who wasn't even there. It was just some weigh in quote the reporter used to get the story to go in the direction they wanted.]
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