Back when I was a teenager, our church had a fund drive. We were the only Catholic Church in the area NOT to have a grade school associated with it. This was an EXTREME embarrassment to the parish. Also the diocese was upset that the parish was not pulling it’s weight with raising revenue.
If you didn’t pledge enough, your child would not be accepted. If you had more than one child, the first child was $100 a month, the second $75 a month and children after that $50 a month (good Irish Catholic mothers can churn those babies out).
However why should the church get $75 or $50 for a seat they can sell for $100. That’s where annual pledges were audited.
I attended this church from age 10 on when we moved into the parish. I left to join the service immediately after college. When I decided to get married several years later, they said, “Who are you? We don’t see your name in our ledger books. You can’t be a Catholic in good standing.”
Back when I was a teenager, our church had a fund drive. We were the only Catholic Church in the area NOT to have a grade school associated with it. This was an EXTREME embarrassment to the parish. Also the diocese was upset that the parish was not pulling it’s weight with raising revenue.
If you didn’t pledge enough, your child would not be accepted. If you had more than one child, the first child was $100 a month, the second $75 a month and children after that $50 a month (good Irish Catholic mothers can churn those babies out).
However why should the church get $75 or $50 for a seat they can sell for $100. That’s where annual pledges were audited.
I attended this church from age 10 on when we moved into the parish. I left to join the service immediately after college. When I decided to get married several years later, they said, “Who are you? We don’t see your name in our ledger books. You can’t be a Catholic in good standing.”
I think that’s when my mom stopped attending.