From Pastor Biar’s Pen 

Squeezing the Bag

Contrary to popular belief, the “bag” of a set of bagpipes does not contain a pair of wailing cats from whence the music comes. Rather, the two purposes it serves is 1) to provide a central chamber for air to flow to the drones and chanter so that everything that’s supposed to be making noise can make noise and 2) it holds a reservoir of air which can be squeezed out while the player takes a breath so that the sound doesn’t stop. The nature of the instrument means that there aren’t stops or breaks in the music once it starts, most of the time that you’re playing, you’re constantly exhaling; so without the ability to squeeze the bag at the appropriate times, the player would quickly pass out. 

There’s a sociological rule that says that within an organization, 80% of the work will be done by the same 20% of the people. It’s an issue which rings true and plagues most congregations as far as I’m aware. There are plenty of areas where volunteers can be used to keep everything running smoothly here at St. John’s, and it seems like it’s always the same, short list of people filling all of those tasks. While I am deeply grateful and appreciative for those who step up, they need a break sometimes. There needs to be a bag that can be squeezed every now and then so that they can take a breath. I understand there can be other factors that perhaps prevent people from certain tasks, not everyone can come to St. John’s during the week to help with landscaping or cleaning out the sanctuary, but coming in thirty minutes earlier on a Sunday morning to help set up for the altar guild, or running the slides once a month so that Linda can sit through a service without any distraction sometimes, or things like this should be achievable for at least a greater portion of the congregation than what we tend to see.

Sorry for a law-heavy newsletter. I’m not trying to throw anybody under the bus, and this honestly isn’t a problem unique to our congregation, but that doesn’t mean we should just ignore it and refuse to let the more willing volunteers run out of air completely.

God’s blessings, Pastor Biar.

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