MyThreeSons Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Have you ever seen a pictorial church directory in which the pictures were only of the adults? I got an email from our church saying that someone would be taking pictures for the new directory after the service this Sunday. It mentioned that pictures would be of members only, so there is no need to get the kids dressed up. (At our church, one must be at least 16yo to be a member, with privileges and responsibilities.) I cannot imagine not having family-unit pictures in the directory. I like seeing which kids go together and with which parents. Am I once again behind the times? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Ime, children are always included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 No. I've never heard of that. I've seen the names of voting members in a slightly different font once, but I've never seen directory pictures of adult members only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 It sounds like they are doing individual photos, associated with a membership list (database) that works on an individual basis. They are probably just having a photo directory as a side project. Kids don't usually have their own "record" in such systems, thus there would not be a need for a photo of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 I'm with bolt. -- sounds like a database thing and not anything else. The picture they took of me for ours was oh-so-beautiful... it was 3 days after I had LASIK, so no eye makeup, in my unflattering green nursery worker shirt (we have orange now, praise the Lord lol...). :D Luckily I hammed it up for it anyway so it's all good. :D :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theYoungerMrsWarde Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Our directory pictures are of the entire family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieSong Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 We include the whole family in ours, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 The church my family goes to includes the entire family but they put a star beside the family members who are church members. They include everyone's birthday (no year) as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 The huge church we are a part of now only photographs individual members - not families. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyThreeSons Posted August 23, 2014 Author Share Posted August 23, 2014 The huge church we are a part of now only photographs individual members - not families. We are a small church -- less than 100 official members. Our membership is very young. At the annual baby dedication service on Father's Day, there were 13 babies dedicated who had been born in the past year, and I know of at least one who was out of town, and there were at least two more babies born in the next couple of weeks. My son belongs to a big (not huge or mega) church, and they have family units in their pictorial directory. Some couples have their picture taken with their dogs, which I think is a bit strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Every church I've been to that does pictorial directories at all does family photos. I don't see the point of a pictorial directory if it's not to help people figure out who's who, and that includes which kids belong to which parents. My current church doesn't differentiate between members and nonmembers (kids or regular attenders). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Different denominations define "membership" in different ways. I've been Episcopalian all my life, and never heard the word "membership" used like it is in some places until I came to these boards. So funny to me to not have kids as "members" of our church family! But it's just the way the word is being used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Our church (450ish members) just went to an online directory. Some people didn't want their kids pictures online so they have made it optional. There is every combination of being listed, we chose to include our kids pictures but not their names since anyone who needs to know their names already does. We attend a church near campus with a high turnover of students though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsrevmeg Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 I have never seen anything but full family units. Sometimes the parents of (adult) children who are non members include them, even if said son/daughter belongs to another church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoorsy Type Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Making a guess here. Could it be because blended families might have an ex spouse who doesn't want their kids photographed and named? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 I think it is weird. Sounds very family "unfriendly" to me to think if one's children and not being part of the church membership. I can see them not being in full membership. But, what is the point of the directory if one is excluding them? What is the point of having a pictoral directory, then? Making a guess here. Could it be because blended families might have an ex spouse who doesn't want their kids photographed and named? Then these particular families would made a decision on whether or not to be included in the directory. Why make a blanket statement to exclude all children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyThreeSons Posted August 23, 2014 Author Share Posted August 23, 2014 This is definitely for a pictorial directory, which will be printed and distributed to member families. It has never been published online in the past, and I haven't heard that this one will be either. A database may also be in the works, but that wasn't mentioned in the email. We don't currently have any divorced families, although there is one family who is in the process of adopting three children out of foster care. I thought of that as a reason for excluding kids, but the official answer I was given when asked was that they are doing adults only "to save space" -- whatever that means, and that the hope is that as we get to know other members, we will get to know their children as well. We have had pictorial directories in the past; a new one is published once every few years. In between pictorial editions, they print an updated directory that just has contact information in printed form. Our pastor has really strong opinions about the treatment of official members versus non-members, and I've disagreed with him in the past. For instance, he changed it so that our small groups only include official members (and their children, sometimes). Under our previous pastors, people who were even semi-regularly attending were encouraged to get involved in a small group, to build relationships, accountability, etc. And several years ago we had a man who was critically ill, and the pastor didn't have us praying for him in the service because "he isn't a member". The man had been a member, but was dropped from the official roster when he didn't attend for an extended period of time while we were between pastors. He had recently begun attending again, but his membership hadn't been reinstated. For those who are wondering -- membership in our church requires a few things: at least 16yo, attended a class about the history and workings of our church body, be a professing believer, been baptized, and been interviewed by two leaders of the church. Once officially a member, the person has voting privileges, may work in the nursery or other children's ministry, and may be subject to church discipline (a very rare occurrence). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 It sounds like this is a very intentional part of the "members are the ones who matter" campaign... Probably under the mistaken assumption that various exclusive privilidges will encourage people to choose to pursue membership, rather than hanging around the church without taking that step. A bit unhealthy in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Yeah, I wouldn't like that at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Could it be some sort of concern of people who don't want there to be photos of their children with their names anywhere because they're afraid of predators? Don't get me wrong, I think that's silly. Just throwing it out there. The churches I've been to with such directories also always did families, though it's been many years since I attended a church like that. I have the church directory photo of my brother and I up with the family photos in my hall, actually. The church from when I was a child used it as a sort of fundraiser as well - cheap way to get a decent family photo made, some of the profits went to the church. I would be uncomfortable with a church that didn't consider my kids members of the community to that extent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Well...I have never even seen a directory with pictures...aren't names enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 In my church, pictures in the directory include members and their families, as well as regular attenders and their families, even if they haven't become members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Huh, I didn't realize it was so common to still do pictorial directories. We don't do them here. We don't do directories at all, for that matter. My grandparents' church still does a pictorial directory, but it's a church full of a lot of older members, so I think to them it's the norm. I think that's becoming less so, though. At least I thought it was. I think it makes sense to phase them out, because churches are growing so quickly and such. At least phase them out in printed form. Plus the pictures are always done by an awful company - olan mills or something. :ack2: So they always turn out terrible. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyThreeSons Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 I do appreciate that we're not going the professional portrait route. I hate that hard sell they always do, even when they promise they won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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