From: fr@compu.com (Fred Rump from home)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
Subject: Re: contributions
Date: 5 Jan 93 08:57:01 GMT
Organization: CompuData Inc.

ALHY@SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (J Scott Berg) writes:


>I agree with most of what you've said here, Len.  I was not trying to
>say that we shouldn't donate to the Church for things that we expect
>to benefit from.  I doubt that any good pastor would deny a parishoner
>help merely because of their prior donation habits.  (Realistically,
>in fact, such behavior would probably promote a viscious cycle of
>declining donations).  However, a previous poster pointed out an
>example of a pastor that, while he didn't necessarily deny anyone
>help, did treat parishoners differently based on their giving habits.

Well the previous poster (me) said that the pastor did not even question as to
why a person needed help if he helped others without question when he was able
to. When an unknown or non-donating member makes a request for help, the 
pastor wants to know something about why. That is his right and and duty as an 
administrator of parish funds.



>What I don't see is the need to have a record of what individuals
>donate.  While your example is a good one, there are other ways to
>find out that a family is in trouble, and finding out by their
>donation habits strikes me as somewhat "sneaky."  It seems that if the
>parish needs more money to meet it's needs, that can be found out from
>statistical information without having to keep track of who gives
>what.

Really? I'd like to see you in a pastor's shoes. I'm sitting here helping mine 
do a geographic map of donating habits so that these names can be given to 
people who will visit and ask for particular sums based upon past records.

The church will always assume that we are giving in similar sacrificial 
levels. While this is not true, they must assume that. So the person donating 
$1000 may be able to add another 10% and a hundred dollars may be asked for 
while the person who gives $200 may only be asked for $20. We assume that the 
sacrifice is the same in either case.

>Realistically, I know from being a treasurer of a couple of
>organizations that despite handling lots of checks, you do begin to
>recognize individuals.  It can't really be helped.  However, it seems
>like that doesn't mean that you can say "since we can't keep
>individuals donation amounts private, why bother trying."

These amounts are generally not publicised. That does not mean they are secret 
to the people you wanted them kept secret from: the pastor and staff.

fred
>I would just prefer that nobody knows how much I donate except me and
>God.

>                                        -Scott Berg


>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>The opinions expressed here are, of course, my own and nobody else's.
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>J. Scott Berg
>email: ALHY@slac.stanford.edu
>real mail: Varian Physics
>           Stanford  CA  94305-4060
>phone:  (415) 926-4732 (w)
>        (415) 326-2631 (h)
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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