January 12, 2020

Dear St. Martin of Tours Parishioners,

I want to thank so many of you who contributed your time, talent, and treasure to make Christmas here at St. Martin’s really lovely. I received many, many compliments from visitors from nearby parishes about the cleanliness and beauty of the church inside and out, the beauty of the music, and the welcoming feeling they felt here.  

Now here is something for your brains: It’s called Price’s Law. I just learned it the other day and it’s quite interesting. Here is what it says:

Take the number of people in any group or organization. Take the square root of that number, and you’ll discover that that number of people do half of all the work.

For example, let’s take a group of 4 people. The square root of 4 is 2, which means that 2 people do half the work. That’s very good! That means everyone is participating at roughly the same measure.

But as the size of the group increases, an inequality emerges. For a group of 100 people, 10 people do half the work. For a group of 400 people, only 20 people do half the work.

However, Price’s Law can also be used to gauge the health of an organization. If the number of individuals who do half the work is substantially greater than the expected value, then that’s the sign of a strong organization.

At the current time, St. Martin of Tours has about 400+ people attending Mass over the weekend. The square root of 400 is 20. Do you think that in our parish ½ of all the work can be attributed to just 20 people? What I observe is a number far greater than that, which proves to me what I already have come to learn: St. Martin of Tours Parish is comprised of individuals who are greatly invested in their parish, well beyond what is average. So, give yourselves a good pat on the back!  

Even so, I challenge those of you who are less active to step up in 2020. There will be a lot going on. We always need volunteers for Bingo, for St. Vincent DePaul, for the choir, for the Women’s Club, the Men’s Club, and so forth. Go to the MINISTRIES tab, and you’ll see many ways you can further help your parish family.

Blessings for a great 2020!