Don't Double Down

A well-worn Wall Street admonition states:
"Don't double down on a bad investment,"
Meaning, don't buy shares at a lower price
Of a stock you already own.

For this reason, I halved my support for
The local Episcopal Church
That I have been attending, to a
Simple admission level of giving.

This church is running a severe deficit,
Financed by an unrestricted bequest,
Which will run out in 2013, and has
No plans for increasing its income.

Attendance has been reduced to a point
Below a level of sustainability.
The rector and staff are being paid
Less than the statutory minimum wage.

I offered to lead a planning group
In finding ways to increase membership,
Which might mean substantial change
In the present ways of doing things.

To my surprise, I was met with
Equivocation by the rector,
And outright hostility
From the senior warden.

It is obvious that they, and others,
Have no interest in growth
As a means of expanding income
And are resigned to eventual extinction.

This is the attitude that pervades
Their parent denomination, which
Records continuing decline in membership
With silence and equanimity.

Perhaps the activist group that
Seized control of The Episcopal Church
Is afraid of growth, and the concomitant
Possibility of losing what they gained.