One of the things I look for when I read is reports of jobs I've never heard about. I suppose it's because I'm drawn to oddities and also because you never know when you'll be able to use something like that in a script or story. In an article by Alexandra Alter in a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal I ran across an interesting one: a mystery worshipper.
You've heard of mystery shoppers, right? They go into stores and restaurants and hotels and report on the service and the products they get. The WSJ says that, according to the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, there are roughly one million secret shoppers in the United States. (Can that be right? Doesn't that sound like a lot of secret shoppers?) Anyway, the secret worshipper is a secret shopper who visits churches and evaluates everything about them, from the quality of the paving in the parking lot to the sermons, to whether or not they're greeted as they arrive.
The article mentions that some people think this is not appropriate because it reduces churches to just another consumer item. One of the pastors interviewed says that's just how it is. He says, "My competition is the Cracker Barrel restaurant down the street." Interesting idea. Redemption? Sure, would you like fries with that? I feel a story coming on...