[Magdalen] Coffee Hour arrangements (was Re: Heather Cook)

[Jim Guthrie]

I look at this from the standpoint of being involved with the Budget and Finance 
Committee of three parishes, including one where we calculated if 100% of our 
pledge units tithed more than half the pledge units were widows on Social 
Security Survivor Benefits plus a little pension in some cases), we still couldn’t 
afford a Rector, the heating bill and the insurance. Fortunately we had some 
other resources like renting out the church to others, renting parking spaces 
(no exactly legal under the tax laws <g>) that at least put us in the black.

But a lot of church space is still assuming to be in the boom days of burgeoning 
membership of the 1950s, and a little use of the parish hall and a little use of 
that big church school wing and the normal little use of the church itself 
really adds up on items like heat, light and insurance.

I'm not in favor of finally going bankrupt and closing and handing the keys in 
to the bishop because little effort was made to rethink the space, let alone 
think about major maintenance items, like when that 100-year old slate roof 
starts to leek and broken slate sometimes tumbles off the roof and threatens 
passersby on the sidewalk below (or crunches a hole in the windshield of the 
Rector's Car).

Cheers,
Jim