This is so funny: in the first draft of my article on this topic, I also compared the issue with wine to the one that the church has been facing for years... But then my article got really long, and the church part felt a bit disingenuous (because I've always been an atheist) and I deleted it. I'm so glad I did because you were a freaking MINISTER and you absolutely nailed that comparison a million times better than I could have. Loved your article!
The church comparison was spot on! Well done! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your thoughts. Those last few questions are so thought provoking...and align with my current feelings about converting more people to wine...though, you've worded it far more eloquently and concisely than I ever could.
Here's an analogy: I live in a part of South Florida that is one continuous strip mall, and they all have the same stores: the Hallmark card shop, the nail salon, the Chinese takeout, etc. And these places are constantly going out of business, because there's only so many cards you can buy and a limit to how much crappy Chinese food you can eat. Maybe the sad truth is that there are just too many churches for the interested population, and definitely too much wine. The wine industry scaled out of all proportion during the prime drinking years of the Boomers, and now the premium wineries are in trouble. And as you (and everyone else) points out, the younger generation isn't taking their place---not because they don't like it, but because they don't have the same focus (or obsession) on it.
I had no idea about your curchly background! Excellent comparison, and for my own part, I'm new enough to the wine scene that I'm not in desperate need for the industry to thrive financially, per se. I just want to be able to have more conversations with randos and have a social life where I'm not a *complete* outlier in my having any knowledge of wine whatsoever, which is where things currently sit. We definitely need an industry breaktrhough like cooking shows where somehow it all becomes more fun and accessible and the general public walks away with a baseline grap of how the whole thing works. Great wrap up to January's Conversation, Stacey.
This is so funny: in the first draft of my article on this topic, I also compared the issue with wine to the one that the church has been facing for years... But then my article got really long, and the church part felt a bit disingenuous (because I've always been an atheist) and I deleted it. I'm so glad I did because you were a freaking MINISTER and you absolutely nailed that comparison a million times better than I could have. Loved your article!
The church comparison was spot on! Well done! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your thoughts. Those last few questions are so thought provoking...and align with my current feelings about converting more people to wine...though, you've worded it far more eloquently and concisely than I ever could.
Here's an analogy: I live in a part of South Florida that is one continuous strip mall, and they all have the same stores: the Hallmark card shop, the nail salon, the Chinese takeout, etc. And these places are constantly going out of business, because there's only so many cards you can buy and a limit to how much crappy Chinese food you can eat. Maybe the sad truth is that there are just too many churches for the interested population, and definitely too much wine. The wine industry scaled out of all proportion during the prime drinking years of the Boomers, and now the premium wineries are in trouble. And as you (and everyone else) points out, the younger generation isn't taking their place---not because they don't like it, but because they don't have the same focus (or obsession) on it.
I had no idea about your curchly background! Excellent comparison, and for my own part, I'm new enough to the wine scene that I'm not in desperate need for the industry to thrive financially, per se. I just want to be able to have more conversations with randos and have a social life where I'm not a *complete* outlier in my having any knowledge of wine whatsoever, which is where things currently sit. We definitely need an industry breaktrhough like cooking shows where somehow it all becomes more fun and accessible and the general public walks away with a baseline grap of how the whole thing works. Great wrap up to January's Conversation, Stacey.
Loved your take on this! You nailed the church comparison as well.