[Magdalen] Please pray for Ascension, Chicago

[Roger Stokes]

I always wanted *not* to know how much a particular individual gave for 
the reason you give.

Roger
On 18/01/2015 03:07, Grace Cangialosi wrote:
> This raises a question for me that I'd like to put to the pub.
> How many of you who are clergy know the amounts of your parisioners'
> pledges? My home parish rector was adamant that it was not a good idea to
> know them, and he didn't.  I followed the same policy when I was vicar.  I
> knew who pledged, and I had a list of pledge amounts, but not matched up.
> That was a small mountain parish, and I was amused the first time I got the
> list of pledges to discover that most of them were for $52!  They'd always
> put a dollar in the plate since they were kids there; that's what you did.
> There were, of course, a few larger ones. And 100% of households pledged!
> But I saw the wisdom in my former rector's position when I accidentally saw
> the pledge amount of a couple in the parish.  They were one of the better
> off couples, and their pledge was very small.  And I did find that I felt
> resentful about that later on, and it colored the way I viewed them, even
> though I knew it shouldn't.
>
> On Sat, Jan 17, 2015 at 7:07 PM, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On Sat, Jan 17, 2015 at 5:50 PM, Marion Thompson
>> <marionwhitevale at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I deplore that people leave a place for reasons like staff changes. Is
>> not
>>> God still there?  Can't people focus on that?
>> One parishioner sent me a draft of his "resignation" letter, which
>> recounted his 30 years of service, generous contributions, and gave
>> the amount of the large bequest he intended to make. My response was
>> that this letter is obviously from the heart and I can't possibly
>> suggest any changes, and I hated that he felt he has to leave. But I
>> personally won't miss his constant dramatics and self-promotion, and
>> his habit of raising up his own presence as more important in the
>> parish than anyone else's. He's a grand, talented, passionate,
>> faithful guy, but I'd really rather not know what someone's monetary
>> giving amounts to, especially when it's used as a threat (that it'll
>> be taken away) or a self-glorification (realize how much I've given).
>> Give, yes. But with one hand only (so the other doesn't know, let
>> alone any other parishioner knowing).
>>
>> God is still there and is still in charge. One can stay there and
>> worship even while dealing with anger at the rector over firing a
>> friend.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Scott R. Knitter
>> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>>
>
>