Money for Sacraments and classes?

[NewEnglandPriest]

I would like to apologize to NewEnglandPRiest for being short or abrupt in any of my arguments.

No worries! Internet forums are for exchanging ideas. If we all agreed about everything it’d be kind of boring…

 

[tafan]

It means that they’ve been contributing to the parish and care about it for a period of time, or they haven’t. There’s such a distinct difference that many pastors refuse to allow any non parishioner weddings in their church.

If there’s not enough support for the parish it closes. Its that simple. Pastors need to be prudent stewards.

Certainly a pastor has the right to decide in who will be married in his parish. And it seems that this should be primarily decided based on a couple’s preparation and if course lack of impediments. If a couple is unrelated to a parish to the extent that this cannot be determined, then any pastor has an obligation not to assist in the wedding. And it would be best if couples would all utilize their current parish for wedddings, that should be the norm.

I have a hard time seeing how a missing a small fee for a few weddings a year pushes the parish to closing.

It seems the following analogy is very appropriate to the arguments being presented:

We went on a beach vacation this past summer. Certainly well over half the people at Sunday mass at the resort town were vacationers with no ties to the parish. They were likely spending 1000s of dollars on their vacation. Yet there was no fee charged for attending mass.

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

Certainly a pastor has the right to decide in who will be married in his parish. And it seems that this should be primarily decided based on a couple’s preparation and if course lack of impediments. If a couple is unrelated to a parish to the extent that this cannot be determined, then any pastor has an obligation not to assist in the wedding. And it would be best if couples would all utilize their current parish for wedddings, that should be the norm.

Ideally, but that’s not how things are trending in these areas. The church is the second consideration for the wedding. The first consideration tends to be where to have the reception. Then they venture out to find churches around that.

I have a hard time seeing how a missing a small fee for a few weddings a year pushes the parish to closing.

In the end it all adds up, and those of us in parishes that are on the brink small gains and losses make a huge difference. If my parish lost $5,000 of income, well that’s part of someone’s salary/benefits. The parish might not be able to afford a certain position any longer, that person is now out of a job. Without a person dedicated to that job, parish ministry or organization could suffer.
These aren’t “fees” that we attach because we want the parish to be merely sitting on a large pile of cash. They are fees that help us assure that the parish can be run as smoothly and as well as possible.

It seems the following analogy is very appropriate to the arguments being presented:

We went on a beach vacation this past summer. Certainly well over half the people at Sunday mass at the resort town were vacationers with no ties to the parish. They were likely spending 1000s of dollars on their vacation. Yet there was no fee charged for attending mass.

But if they want a Mass said for an intention, there is a “fee” attached to that. And those vacation chapels and parishes essentially use those vacationers to pay for their parish in the winter. In the summer they get their numbers in volume and people on vacation tend to be people of some means and they tend to give a bit more. They are people who are choosing to go to Mass on their vacation.
Weddings are often two people who haven’t been to Mass since confirmation and are getting married in a church because their parents would be upset if they didn’t or because they think it looks nicer. BIG difference…