[Bryn-gwlad] 'scuse me while I get on this soapbox

[Sean Gulick]

I think the biggest issue causing our aging population is that we  
have somehow lost the constant influx of college students into the  
membership that balanced the members retiring and in fact resulted in  
some net growth.  We now have some college aged members from UT, ACC,  
etc., and the next step is to perhaps arrange a demo or two but that  
requires some campus groups to start up...  I would be interested to  
find out if other college towns are having similar troubles.

Gideon

On Jul 7, 2006, at 12:11 AM, robert segrest wrote:

> There used to be a Christian movement called the
> United Society of Believers in Christ's Second
> Appearing, but known to most as the Shakers or Shaking
> Quakers.  The were an offshoot of the Society of
> Friends (Quakers).  The most unorthodox bit of
> doctrine that they practiced was absolute celibacy.
> In the late 18th and early 19th century they were
> reasonably successful, reaching a peak membership of
> 6000 members (If that sounds small to you, just try
> convincing 6000 people to never have sex).
> Unfortunately, for them at least, most people choose a
> religious faith by being born in it.  Since Shakers
> didn't have sex, they didn't have babies.  As of the
> 1920's there were only about a dozen Shakers left, and
> they have maintained about that number, through
> conversion, ever since.
>
> The point of this pedantic anecdote is that groups
> that do not successfully build membership, die.  What
> we have to offer is more attractive to most people
> than what the Shakers were offering, but if we in the
> SCA do not actively seek new members, we will become a
> meaningless footnote in historical recreation.  I do
> not think we need to be worried about where we are
> going to be in ten years, I think we need to be DEEPLY
> CONCERNED about where we are RIGHT NOW.  It is
> shocking to me how much of the leadership of the SCA,
> and most of its subgroups, is the same leadership it
> had 10 years ago.  The word for things that don't
> change is 'dead', and this organization means too much
> to me, for me to be at all sanguine about attending
> its funereal.  Not to be provacative, but if we have
> people who can't stand to see change occur, then we
> probably need to evaluate the cost/benefit situation
> of those peoples continued membership.
>
> My unscientific guess would be that the average
> chivalric fighter today is in his or her mid-thirties.
>  If this trend continues, we will find ourselves
> recreating the actions of those late period knights
> who still wanted to fight in mounted, armored
> tournaments after warfare had become an affair for
> footsoldiers with firearms.
>
> I will step down now.  Obviously this is an issue I
> feel strongly about.  When I hear someone wonder if we
> really ought to be looking for new, young members my
> eyes kind of roll back in my head, and the world gets
> red and fuzzy.  Hope I didn't offend.
>
> Laszlo
>
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_________________________
Dr. Sean P. S. Gulick
Research Associate
Institute for Geophysics
Jackson School of Geosciences
University of Texas at Austin
4412 Spicewood Springs Rd Bldg 600 Austin, Texas 78759
Phone: 512-471-0483, Fax: 512-471-0999
Email: sean at ig.utexas.edu
http://www.ig.utexas.edu/people/staff/sean/

"Honor the past,  live the present, create the future"


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