Binney:
The whole idea of someone holding out there hand with expectation for money or gift at the time of ANY Sacrament is sickening
.
The cost for items such as a booklet to aid in learning about a sacrament costs so little that it should not even be factored in.
A wedding in a church shouldn’t cost the bride and groom a penny. They already pay for the white carpet, flowers, organist/choir (if they want it), they ‘gift’ the altar servers.
The priest should get nothing for celebrating a wedding mass. It is his ministry! Where does the idea of extra $$ come in?
the donation for the priest’s services is a courtesy, a donation, from people who wish to express their gratitude, rather than a fee extorted from people who begrudge it.
as far as the nominal cost for sacramental preparation materials: for our 138 first communicants this year
textbook/workbook @ $12.00 each 1st year & 2nd year
bilingual textbooks for Spanish classes @18.00 each 1st & 2nd year
parent booklet, confession @3.95
parent booklet, communion @ 4.95
child’s missal, included in price of 2nd year textbook
1st year parent meeting materials, teaching on the Mass, @ 3.00 per family
photocopies of classroom activities, informational flyers, take-home letters English/Spanish, meeting handouts over the 2-year preparation period: $4.00 per family
(this does not include expense related to the rest of the CCD program, only extras for sacramental preparation)
Videos - part of overhead
certificates for 1st communion, including purchase, staff time to prepare, staff time for entry into official sacramental record, notification of baptismal parish +postage: $6.00 per family
I had to calculate the cost, exclusive of salaries, for preparing one child for first communion (2 yr period) for a diocesan report
$55.00 English
60.00 Spanish (spanish language materials are more expensive)
$75.00 for RCIA (older child preparing for baptism as well as other sacraments)
$70.00 for confirmation (includes 2 retreats, expense for service projects, bible and catechism given to students as well as textbooks)
CCD fees cover less than half that cost, and less than half the families have paid the full fees
a donation of $10 helps to offset the cost, which is paid by all parishioners, and again is a courtesy, not a fee
