[Magdalen] Quiet Pub

[Roger Stokes]

On 15/12/2016 19:48, ME Michaud wrote:
> When I was a kid, people used to go to the rector and say "Joe the
> fisherman
> has been laid up and out of work. Here's ten bucks, because they need fuel
> oil."
> And the rector would send the heating oil and tell them it was from the
> church.
> Weird New Englanders and their charity vs pride thing.

I don't think it's weird. The donor wanted to help but not make the 
recipient feel beholden to them so the rector was a useful intermediary. 
Think of the biblical injunction to not let one hand know what the other 
is doing when giving alms. Another spin-off from this was that it 
alerted the rector to be able to offer pastoral support and showed the 
Church's care and concern.

Roger