A new scheme in Germany gives people the chance to rate their local priest on things like 'performance' (ugh!) at services' and credibility.
Ratings for priests on the site are represented by sheep, whose woolly coats range from white to black to visually express a priest's rating. The pope and other prominent German priests so far sport light to middle grey wool.
See Bosco Peters blog for a fuller description. Not sure what to think about this. The less of the X Factor spirit we have in church the better, but at the same time church leaders need accountability, and we need other people to help us reflect on how we're doing. But I would have thought a small group of trusted and honest Christians who can tell us the things we need to hear is a better way to do it.
Like you, I'm not keen on this. It sounds a bit like the site where schoolchildren can 'rate' their teacher, which actually gets used to slate teachers the kids don't like!
ReplyDeleteI am interested, though, in something like the ship of fools mystery worshipper. I think when I finally get not parish life, I'm going to experiment with the tool of mystery shopping - not just for the clergy, but for the church community and worship experience as a whole.
It does matter what others think of us, but it can't be an uncritical and disorganised rating. It needs to be based on criteria so improvement can be made.