[Magdalen] Please pray for Ascension, Chicago

[Raewynne Whiteley]

I chose not to know my first year, so that I built relationships without
that being a factor.  But I do know now, and find it's very important -
often the change in a pledge is the first thing I know about a pastoral
issue.

On Sat, Jan 17, 2015 at 10:07 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
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
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Grace Cangialosi
> Ruckersville, VA
>
> It's a good thing Mary didn't have to wait for a Doctrine of the
> Incarnation
> before she said "Yes" to God.
>