In preparation for this summer’s Youth Choir mission tour to Boston, Wilshire’s youth are raising funds through a spaghetti luncheon and silent auction Sunday, March 9.
The luncheon is free, although donations to the mission trip will be accepted. Congregants also are encouraged to participate in the silent auction as a further means of support.
Q. What is the actual cost for a student to participate in mission choir tour?
A. The real cost is more than $1,000 per student, which includes transportation, lodging and meals for the week-long experience.
Q. Why is it so expensive? It didn’t cost this much when I was in my church’s youth choir.
A. There are several reasons. The most obvious is that everything is more expensive now. The days of 30-cent-a-gallon gas are long gone. Travel expenses represent a significant part of each year’s tour budget.
Add to that changing times. In the “olden days,” church ministers thought nothing of calling a church in a far-away city and asking if 10 congregants could house three or four kids each for a couple of nights, feeding them breakfast and maybe even dinner. In today’s world, churches cannot take that risk.
Q. If travel costs so much, why go to places like Boston or Chicago or New Orleans to do mission work? Isn’t there plenty to do right here in Dallas?
A. Yes, missions opportunities abound in Dallas, and Wilshire youth do a lot of local mission work all summer. Wilshire prides itself as a teaching congregation, where people of all walks of life and at any age can learn more about our Christian faith. To be a teacher, we give youth the opportunity to take part in musical and missions work in a variety of venues to see “what clicks.”
Plus, there is value in getting our youth away from Dallas to expand their vision and give them a chance to coalesce as a group. By going away, we give our youth the opportunity to block out all the distractions of their lives and focus just on the work at hand—musical praise and mission work.
To help manage expenses, one summer, the choir goes on a “big trip,” typically including an airline flight; the following summer the choir takes a “little trip,” usually by bus.
Q. Why aren’t we asking parents to pay all the way for their kids to participate?
Parents are required to pay $300 per student for their youth to take part in the mission choir tour. The two primary fund raisers that support the mission choir tour— the fall garage sale and the spring Spaghetti Luncheon and Silent Auction— help cover those costs not paid for by parents.
Q. Why aren’t these costs covered in the church budget?
A. The congregation will give $16,000 (about $210 per student singer) toward Youth Choir mission tour through this year’s Ministry Fund. Through the years, the Finance Committee has tried to create a mixture of responsibility between the Ministry Fund, youth families and youth fund raisers.
Paying for the entire amount through the Ministry Fund would create a different kind of burden on the church budget. In just the past six years, the number of youth taking part in mission choir tour has grown from about 50 to about 75— a 50 percent increase. This is a great problem to have.
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