Shaggyness is a condition that besets all sorts of organizations that have existed for a long time without having a therapeutic trim. So the edges grow out and the innards become moldy and pretty soon, over a quarter century or so, you have what looks like a lawn that needs mowing.

The problem is this: Religious people are too kind and when it comes to trimming, they get teary-eyed and weak in the knees and decide it should not be done for this or that moral reason.

For instance, one might imagine the excitement 20 years ago if a hypothetical global newsletter were created by church staffers and sent out across the church to the delight of former missionaries and their supporters.

The first five years of such a publication might have sent a fresh breeze blowing throughout the ecclesiastical community. But what if some of the staff people grew out of touch, graphics experts started falling back on cliches and the missionaries groaned and moved on to other things? Chances are, the newsletter would still be published even though there would be few readers and little outside support. The church pays for it by taking a few bucks from this budget and a few from that. ... And no one seems to mind as the publication slumbers along through history.

If this were the only instance of denominational waste, we could tolerate the expense. But in some religious bodies, that scenario is legion - meaning these wasteful enterprises are swarming all over religions like bugs on a rotting tree.

In every Christian denomination, church officials have had to trim budgets as revenues declined during the past decade. Some employees took early retirements and others were thrown out into the world to survive on their own power and wit.

Ultimately, this natural downsizing will make religions stronger and better able to compete for attention in a fiercely demanding society. But when it happens, religious bodies groan under the travail and it appears that everything is coming apart.

But religion is not coming apart in the United States. Rather, it is redefining the holy mission and taking an analytical look at how it will deliver services in the future.

I predict that within a decade the mainline Protestant churches, which have taken their share of ridicule and criticism, will be on the rebound. In a like manner, Catholicism will be struggling openly and honestly with issues that threaten the worldwide strength of the church. Budget cutting, shortfalls and fear of the future will have given way to celebrations that reach deep into the gospel.

Just look at the possibilities. Techno-preachers are just beginning to understand how computer networks can strengthen the bonds between churches and how the word can be transformed into electronic salvation. Who can preachers reach in that swirling mass of information called the World Wide Web?

Will the time come soon when religious people all over the world can communicate in an instant without cumbersome, expensive and often ineffective meetings?

But if the world is to experience a strengthened religious community, the strategic business of keeping an organization in fighting condition must become the work of everyone in the church.

Church leaders once said with confidence, "You can always find money for quality programs." Now they should know that statement is only partly true. Yes, you can find money for quality programs. But some outstanding programs will go begging and come up empty.

Which means religions have to stop wasting money on programs that have lived longer than their purpose. There will have to be a good deal of flexibility in large congregational staffs. And, more than ever, church leaders must have the clear eyes of visionaries living in a dark world.

Clark D. MorphewSeptember 6, 1997