Posted on 08/19/2015 8:46:44 AM PDT by Morgana
There is something not right about this story.
Whenever I've shown up for Mass, I put cash into the collection basket when it gets passed around. No envelope. The priest doesn't even know my name nor my address, much less how much I make. I'm just a face in the pews, which is how I prefer it.
And yes I was going to Mass in the 1960's and it was not that way in my parish then either.
I’ve been a Catholic Convert since my early 20’s and I’ve never heard of someone being excommunicated for such a thing.
When I do give money to the church I only give cash because I feel what I give is between me and God and no one else’s business. Have always felt this way.
Here lately I have not been giving cash but been giving another way. I’ve been buying pro life books and donating them to our church library for church members to read. I told my Priest I was doing this and he was fine with it since this is a pro life parish. In fact right now I have three books that came from Amazon to take down to the church tomorrow. I know people are reading them. I really hope/pray I’m encouraging my fellow church members to become more pro life.
And any which would put you out because you don't produce a sufficient revenue stream for them are often not worth belonging to in the first place.
Turned me off of all religion for a long time and especially the Catholic Church - I finally got saved in a non-denominational church at the age of 51...
That being said, I have to address this statement about your family being "excommunicated". That's not how it works at all. I imagine, being a child at the time, that may have been what you thought you heard, or perhaps your father in his anger may have actually said it. If I may guess what actually happened was the SOB greedy pastor (yes, there are enough of them) decided to tell your family that you were no longer welcome in "his" church (if on the other hand, the pastor actually *did* use that word, he committed a very grievous sin). There are wonderful pastors and there are truly lousy pastors (they are human), and it sounds like your family had one of the latter. What a horrible experience; trust me that when he stood before the Lord (I assume he's gone), that pastor had to account for what he did to your family's faith.
There was a time, my father told me, when my mother was pregnant with my older brother, and in their church at the time, the pastor required members to pay 10 cents to be able to sit in a pew. My parents didn't have money at the time, and my father let my mom sit. The pastor came up demanding the 10 cents. My father lit into him like you wouldn't believe! He wound up writing a letter to the bishop, and that was the end of the "10 cents to sit" rule.
Excommunication in the Catholic Church is an extremely serious thing, which must be approved by the bishop, and is normally only done by a very special priest.
Again, I'm very happy you found a church!
Regards,
COBOL2Java
But for your information, that "excommunication" - if inflicted on your Dad by a priest exclusively for not donating the money HE thought should be donated - was invalid!!!! I hope it brings you peace to know this.
The priest is the one who should have been excommunicated......or at the very least suspended by his bishop from exercising his priestly faculties and shipped off to a monastery to do penance.
Any church who would do this has a messed up understanding of God and the whole idea of church.
Tithing is designed to benefit HER. God promises to supply ALL of our needs; However He came up with the tithe - honoring Him with the first tenth of our increase. It’s a simple principle and is an excellent practice of our FAITH toward God.
The church should teach their members to tithe. If members aren’t tithing, the are not being taught about it correctly or effectively.
What kind of plane is this pastor angling for?
reminds ME of a joke: a guy’s dog died and he goes to the catholic church to see if they’d be willing to hold a service. The priest scoffs and dismisses the guy. The guy apologizes and says should I just go down to the baptist church and the priest says ‘sure, whatever’. The guy says ‘you think if I give ‘em $500 that’ll be enough?’ And the priest says ‘why didn’t you tell me your dog was a catholic??’
I had a preacher in the past tell us it was important to tithe, for tithing was biblical.
But in the same sermon he pointed out that he didn’t care if the tithing went to the church.
He thought in our lives we would find plenty of opportunity to do God’s work, if we only looked around. He did point out it would be easier to keep the lights and heat on if some of it came to the church.
It was like that in the sixties in some parishes. One priest threatened to excommunicate some Boy Scouts for meeting with some Scouts from the neighboring troop from the Presbyterian church. In this town in New Jersey Catholics were not supposed to socialize with non Catholics.
So what? Lady needs to get over it. Church membership is not mandated in the Bible. It says to “forsake not the assembling” with other believers, but official church membership simply isn’t there. “Assembling” isn’t “joining”.
I see the pastor’s name on the letter. The pastor should know nothing about who gives what to the church; that’s the job of the Treasurer and/or deacon(s). Once the pastor is aware of that, he’s likely to give preferential treatment, or vice versa, based on money.
There was a young couple that started attending the church where I was going a couple of decades ago. The father was having a hard time finding work and they had 2 or three children.
When they tried to tithe the leadership of the church noticed and told them no, we should be helping you.
The father said the church they attended before insisted that they give money. (That was not the reason they left that church) His priorities were God first (why he attended church) and then family.
What a shame, a “church” with a mandatory attendance rule and an “admission” charge.
As a kid I went to a church across the street from where I lived.
When it cam time to plase the plate, the preacher said paraphrased: “Dig way down in your pockets and put your money in the plate, down to the last dime”
I didn’t go back, heck I was a kid and didn’t have any money at all!
That’s a joke right?
Oh, and excommunicable offenses are in the Canon Law, and not putting enough cash in the basket is NOT one ofthem, except arguably in places like Germany, where the tax system requires you to register your church.
There are fringe or wayward shepherds in many churches who like to make up their own little quirk rules be it Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc. My aunt was RC most of her life and attended Mass when she could and gave when she could. She could not drive so she was dependent upon others and in her later years due to mild agoraphobia and the fact she was a caregiver to her granddaughter her ventures outside her home weren't frequent. But in her later years she as her income was allowing her to do she was faithful to mail in tithes.
Her time to leave this world into the next came. By then the family had moved about 20 miles from their long time residence. The family contacted the priest of the church she attended the most to ask if the priest would do the services. His reply was it's too far. I'm not making it up. But another Priest 175 miles away in another city in another diocese made a 300 plus mile round trip to do his beloved aunts funeral Mass. And had it been within his own diocese he had the authority to have ordered the other priest to do the Mass. He was the one under the Bishop {I forget the title} who oversaw other Priest.
I last attended a small rural Baptist church not tied to any association. The tithing stayed in the church to be used at the discretion of Pastor and Deacons. Pastor would say when the plate was passed bless those who give and bless those who can not. That is how it should be. Only an individual knows their own abilities.
I also saw my uncle excommunicated if you could call it that from a rural Baptist church he and my aunt supported and even donated land too. He was up in years and in poor health. My aunt was fixing to pass and she asked her cousin a woman to come in and care for my uncle. Actually she asked two cousins who were brother and sister male and female to move in and care for him. Word got back to the fine reverend of the woman living in his home and he took it to the Deacons who kicked him out of the membership. This was a Baptist church. No sin occurred. No indeed the woman was doing what The Bible and Lord ask. She was helping the sick. My aunt and uncle had it in their will that all their earthly things including land and property would have went to that church. The Will got changed and the two who cared for him got the home and the money with families blessings.
I'm reminded of a poem a late gentleman a few ridges over named Archie Campbell wrote called "Trouble in Amen Corner" a crisis within a church caused by some church members disliking to an elderly mans singing.
WOW!!!
All I have to say is Miss Josephine you are welcome at my church, and you may sit by me!!
That is just CRAZY!
looks like it’s bad timing for them, i just looked it up, a dollar sign with 3 lines are the first three letters of the name of Jesus in Greek. I learn something new everyday I guess.
OH GOOD HEAVENS!!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-African-Baptist-Church/318884558217580?rf=159488804083218
That really is their stained glass window!!!!
I just had to go see for myself. Yes I know that is some Greek symbol but it just does not look right.
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