The Art of Asking

I apologize in advance, as I didn’t mean to get this into-my-head so early in the summer, or to be making such long blog posts, but here we go.

My second week working with three Downriver Lutheran churches has gotten better – rather, I think I’ve just gotten more used to it. As with any new job or change in routine, it has necessitated a bit of adjustment. One of the more peculiar things that surprised me was just how much people were willing to help just simply because of my asking them to.

A majority of my week was spent on phone calls and writing and replying to emails to various service organizations in the Southgate, Taylor, and Riverview areas. I had a long phone conversation with a woman who worked at a local hospital about the various needs she has seen in her community, and who then proceeded to tell me that her office would be open for me, any time, if I wanted to come in and brainstorm ideas with her for our outreach programs. I emailed the three separate school districts for demographic information on their students and/or district areas, and two of them responded to me giving me a plethora of information in Power-Points.

But that got me thinking. Why were these organizations so willing to give out this information, particularly the school districts? Was it because I said that I was from a religious organization? (Even though I am using my Umich email address; which begs the next question, was it because they thought that I was an innocent student seeking information?) I did clearly explain what I planned to do with this information (use it to think about outreach programs; as a starting point for a community-wide canvassing), but over email or on the phone, these people I was speaking to had no idea if I would deliver on my promises. How would they know I wouldn’t use the demographic information for another nefarious purpose? I had clearly said in my email that I was representing a church but I was also using an email address that ended in “edu”. Cynically, it has to be said that neither members of a church or educational institution are always free from misuse of their position to gain information, and that sometimes the most innocuous of information can be used in a corrupt way.

This is perhaps just showing my lack of experience with both religious organizations and non-profits, but I found it interesting, nonetheless. Could the same be said for a random community member to gain access to this information? A for-profit company? Amanda Palmer, in one of my favorite TED talks and the namesake for this post, speaks about the wondrous fruits that come from simply asking (although she is more referencing the music industry, I think a similar idea applies here). She speaks about the direct connection created by asking, and that emotion is what creates a willingness to give.

While I think what Amanda speaks of is beautiful, she also fails to mention that the emotion she creates by asking, and the willingness of her fans to give her money and food and a couch to sleep on when she asks, is because trust already exists between her and her fans. She creates that trust because she produces a product that the fans deem worthy of their money and time. She has proven herself to be trustworthy to not take advantage of offerings of shelter for a night, and to deliver a quality product with the money her fans give her in advance through Kickstarter.

But most, if not all, of the organizations I have contacted thus far have had zero contact with any of the churches I am interning for this summer. Their first contact with these specific churches is through me, and while I know that I am not going to abuse this information or my position, I can’t help but wonder if they do, or if they are just running on good faith. Perhaps they are going off previous knowledge – the woman from the hospital who was so generous with her time and information is the Faith-Based Outreach Coordinator for the hospital, so she obviously has dealt with other faith-based organizations in the past, enough to necessitate a job title.

I will look into it more in the next week. I am now going to focus more on faith-based organizations in the area, and am curious to see if their response or willingness to work with me and share information is different from those of the service organizations in the area.

…and to break away from the seriousness of this post, I have decided to showcase how I spend my mornings, now. It is a bit oppressive to sit in an old church all day, and so, with my supervisor’s permission, have become accustomed to working in Panera in the morning after I drop Shelby off at her organization.

It is both a delicious and expensive habit, but I can’t say I’m complaining (yet).