Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 30 September 1960 — Page 8

The National Jewish POST and OPINION

Friday, September 30, 196$

ADMINISTRATION • EQUIPMENT • SUPPLIES • GIFT SHOPS

King-Size Congregations Face Problems of Finance, Adiiiistration, Education

By MYRON SCHOEN Most of us are familiar with the saying, “Kleine kinde, kleine tzoris und grosse kinde grosse tzoris.” This is particularly true in regard to the American synagogue. Despite the large buildings and the

equally large m e m b e rship rosters, the big b y n a gogues, ui’ban and suburban, have their problems and since they are large Instit u t ions, their problems are

king-size.

We all know the surface manifestations of the pi’oblems facing the larger congregation. In the

Schoen

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city it is changing neighborhood patterns and the movement to the suburbs. In the suburbs it is the problem of physical facilties keeping pace with the requirements of the educational program and seating for the High Holy Days. However, there are more complex and fundamental problems that face the large synagogue at this stage of American Jewish life and we are finally getting down to wrestle with them.

Within the space of two weeks two national conferences will be held that will attempt to probe some of the questions and come up with some of the answers The first will be held on Oct. 20 in New York City, when the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform) will convene its two-day "Large Congregation’s Conference.”

LAY AND rabbinic leaders from more than 80 congregations will assemble under the theme of "The Challenge of Bigness.” The opening session will deal

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with one of the major concerns —the program and staff of the larger congregation. To be probed and hopefully resolved are such questions as how long must a congregation be before it engages a second rabbi or even a third? Or, with the critical shortages in the rabbinical field, is it proper for a large congregation to have a multiple ministry? Considering the shortage, would it not be advisable for the congregations to engage professional educators, administrators, youth directors and music directors?

Membership in a large congregation also presents serious questions for the lay leader and this will be brought out in the session devoted to the "Responsibility of Lay Leadership in the Large Congregation.” How do we wrestle with the problem of perpetuation of lay leadership based to ~a large degree on family and economic status? With hundreds upon hundreds of members whose participation in the synagogue is only peripheral, how do we spot and bring out potential leaders? Or, do we resort to

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larger and larger professional staffs which bring about larger and larger budgets and ever increasing dues requirements on the members?

Yet another facet of the problem troubles us — absentee management. Shall we require moi'e of our trustees than attendance at meetings? Should there be a residential, financial and even more important, a religious commitment required of synagogue trustees?

IN ADDITION to workshops on the problems facing large congregations in the areas of education, social action and finance and administration, those attending the second day of the conference will participate in a discussion dealing with the sociological aspects of the 1960's and an assessment of contemporary worship. On Nov. 1 more than 75 temple administrators associated with the National Association of Temple Administrators (Reform) will gather for a four-day workshop in New Orleans. For the most part these professionals represent the large congregation and the topics of their workshops indicate that the larger congregations are faced with serious problems in the years ahead.

The problem of financing the

large congregation remains^ paramount concern. There will, be a workshop devoted to the new dues schedules that have been adopted on a wide scale and what their portent is for the fij. ture. There will also be a session devoted to tax benefits and tem. pie fund investments with an eye to securing the large bequests and gifts in which area the synagogue has placed second best in relation to our hospitals and educational institutions.

THE EFFICACY of fund-rais-ing affairs in large congregations will come up for serious debate at still another session and with the current wave of synagogue remodeling and relocations, professional fund-raisers will address the group to assess their services as against the "do it yourself” trend. Just as in our economy and our society in general, bigness presents problems. In most instances it is futile to damn it and say it shouldn’t be and we must go back to the smaller, more intimate synagogue of grandfather’s day. There is no going back at this time — the large congregation is a reality, It has its faults but it has its promises. It is good to see that we are getting around to a better of assessment of both fault and promise.

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