Seats for sale at Christmas Mass

[spiritblows]

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I have never sat anywhere but the first 2 front pews with all the kids and dh in tow - and would be more than a little ticked at having to pay for those seats. I even get there early to make sure it’s empty enough all of us can fit in the pew.

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Second, shouldn’t the goal be to make the front of the church a more desirable place to be - rather than tacking a fee to it so it is even less appealing?

Since it was only a one time reserved seating, I think it’s okay. I can understand feeling territorial about one’s usual seat though. It’s an unspoken rule at my parish where people sit and it’s rather disconcerting for some people to find ‘their’ usual seats taken by a visitor. I always arrive early to get mine. (fourth row from the front, right side of the church). But, I wouldn’t mind giving it up once a year for a good cause.

 

[spiritblows]

TAS2000:

Wow! This thread is full of interesting stuff!

One of the very old (no plumbing, even today) small churches in our area used to have “pew dues”. Mind you this was YEARS ago. A family “bought” a pew with their dues and that was where they sat every week. I think there was even something like the families that gave more to the church sat closer to the front. The family name was on a plaque on the end of the pew.

Also, the parish school that our daughter attends also has a similar arangment to the one described. Parents have to pay I think $400 dollars to the church, then they get the discounted “parishoner” rate for tuition.

I think that this was an older custom that fortunately has been done away with because it strongly smacks of elitism. If you go to Europe, you’ll find important people buried in the walls of the churches, with memorial plaques. They are all prominant people, of course, who no doubt contributed generously to the building fund of the day. The church has always had to resort to creative funding scemes. This once a year auctioning of front pews is actually rather mild compared to some of fundraising tactics from ancient times…

 

[Rob_s_Wife]

TAS2000:

One of the very old (no plumbing, even today) small churches in our area used to have “pew dues”. Mind you this was YEARS ago. A family “bought” a pew with their dues and that was where they sat every week. I think there was even something like the families that gave more to the church sat closer to the front. The family name was on a plaque on the end of the pew.

In very “olden” times, their were pews such as you describe. Partly to assure the family who “owned” the Church were given senority. Many lords and ladies of the manor had a “family chapel” built on their grounds for the use of the laborers and nearby township to use and asked the archbishop to assign a priest. If it was not for such benelovence many towns and serfs would have had no Church or priest. So it was elitist as it was understood that the nobelity should be set aside in reverence away from the commoners, but it also served the needs of those commoners to some degree.

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**I still don’t like it and wouldn’t have much tolorance for it at my parish. Maybe if I was wealthier, I wouldn’t mind as much. Being the commoner I am though - I really don’t find it a good faith practice. **

 

[Rob_s_Wife]

**

**God loves poor spellers **

:angel1:

I love that sig line! I always dislike reading my own posts and finding all the errors AFTER I’ve sent it along… And I’m not even a porr speller! Just a too-fast typer!**

 

[HagiaSophia]

It was called Miracle of the Bells with Fred MacMurray, and Frank Sinatra and Lee J. Cobb.

 

[cargopilot]

I sure don’t see why there would be any fuss about selling the choice seats for the Christmas or Easter Mass to the highest bidder.

I say let all the Christmas and Easter Catholics ease their guilt and duke it out with the highest bid. I would gladly give up my usual padded, second-row, right of center, next-to-the-aisle seat so the Church could have a nice donation, anytime. This Christmas, I sat in the back with all the other ‘regulars’, bumped by all the C&E’s, and had a GREAT time! I would have liked to see OUR parish pick up a few extra $grand with the sale of choice seats.

 

[geojack]

mommyjo2:

It’s a great idea! And so thoughtful to put the seats right up front, so everyone in the church will know who spent what to give to the Church! Who cares about that stuff about don’t let your right hand know what your left is doing… those pesky scriptures get in the way of the real money! Maybe they could make those little buttons with a contribution thermometer… I’ve given XXX’ dollars, only $10,000 to go

In the 60"s our parish posted what everybody gave the previous year. I am sure it made some people give more. I am also sure it embarrassed some people.

 

[cainem]

can’t see anything wrong with it either, they should have sold it on ebay along with the eucharist,(bad joke) no two peoples financial situation is the same and no one should be charged for sitting anywhere in gods holy church, we all give as much as we can afford,

 

[rwoehmke]

spiritblows:

OK, I’m going to give another opinion here. Our Parish did this as a fundraiser for a renovation for Easter I believe. It’s a purely symbolic gesture. The only thing I find questionable it that everyone will know who made the donation.
The truth of it is, as my pastor has mentioned more than once, Catholics traditionally don’t like the front pews. The church fills from the back. So, these are actually the least desirable seats. They aren’t ‘selling’ seats, they are reserving them. It’s a fun sort of thing and very ironic that folks are paying for seats that no one else usually wants.

Indeed the seats are only the first six rows at one of the six Christmas Masses. At our parish those front seats went begging at the Mass my family attended… Perhaps many of you are too young to recall the days when we paid pew rent in many Catholic parishes. If you go into some of the older churches with old pews you can still see the numbers attached to the aisle end of the pews. A pew renter got that same pew every Sunday and not for just one Mass on Christmas Eve. I applaud the innovative ways in which Nativity is ensuring that their children can enjoy a Catholic Education. I also would hesitate to say that people who bid on them had questionable motivation. How many times do many Catholics come up with a little more cash than their weekly gift to buy things at parish festivals, bake sales, etc. that they really don’t need.

Our parish, like Nativity, has an endowment fund, the interest on which is used to help those families who cannot afford the tuition in a Catholic School. There was a time in the Detroit Archdiocese, when I was a child, that Catholic grade school was absolutely free for every child who wished to attend. That was when we still had nuns and class size might reach 45-50 kids per room. A minimal tuition was charged in the high schools. I suppose some might consider it better to send those who can’t afford it to a Public School. Today we often criticize Catholic Schools as not being what they used to be, but sociological studies have shown that many of those Catholics most supportive of their Church are those who received a Catholic Education. They are often the backbone of a parish.

 

[spiritblows]

**

**I love that sig line! I always dislike reading my own posts and finding all the errors AFTER I’ve sent it along… And I’m not even a porr speller! Just a too-fast typer!

Gee thanks. Spelling is not my specialty, although I’m not as bad as some folks here… But, God still loves me!

 

[BaldwinIV]

Having my own pew could come in very handy on those days when I…er…I mean my wife…is running a bit behind. Of course, we are blessed to have a parish in which the 11:00 mass is standing room only.

Glory to God.

Baldwin

 

[Della]

Nohome:

Don’t be silly. Can’t see the difference between a bake sale and the money changers in the temple?

Nohome

This is NOT a case of money changers in the temple. If you don’t like the practice complain to the bishop. After all, he is the one that allows the parish to do fund raising in this way, and he is right to allow it because there is nothing wrong with it. Period.

 

[TAS2000]

**In very “olden” times, their were pews such as you describe. Partly to assure the family who “owned” the Church were given senority. Many lords and ladies of the manor… **

Woa! We aren’t talking THAT old. I think the church is about 150 years old, built by farming families in rural Wisconsin, not lords and ladies of nobility. And the practice I was talking about was in place less than some 80 years ago, because some older members of that parish still talk about it. They even remember which pews belonged to the “big” families. Almost everyone there is related to everyone else somehow, cause they all had big families (10-11 kids), so the phone book has large qty’s of the same 15 or so last names.

 

[KathleenElsie]

TAS2000:

Wow! This thread is full of interesting stuff!

One of the very old (no plumbing, even today) small churches in our area used to have “pew dues”. Mind you this was YEARS ago. A family “bought” a pew with their dues and that was where they sat every week. I think there was even something like the families that gave more to the church sat closer to the front. The family name was on a plaque on the end of the pew.

Also, the parish school that our daughter attends also has a similar arangment to the one described. Parents have to pay I think $400 dollars to the church, then they get the discounted “parishoner” rate for tuition.

Well one fact is true,if you “OWN” seats everyone knows if you are at Mass.:yup: Father would know where to look if he had a special point to make.

We sit as close to the front as we can find space for the seven of us. Most of the time it is the first or second row.

 

[shades_of_gray]

We sell tables under the tent and parking spaces at our parish picnic every spring. Every one grumbles about it, though!

 

[Della]

You know, it’s so funny how some folks get their panties in a twist over auctioning off pews for one Christmas Mass as if the parish was supposed to be run on air and good intentions.

My brother goes to this parish, so I know the Christmas Mass Pew fund raiser makes money for children who live in a lower middle class neighborhood in which both parents must work (some more than one job) just to put food on the table, a roof over their heads, and clothes on their backs. In my brother’s case, he had two boys in school with MD but he had to transfer them to a public school because the parish couldn’t afford to accomodate them. If the parish has come up with a way to make some money for these kids that the parish finds suitable to them, which the bishop approves, then I say more power to them!

 

[stinkcat_14]

I read the following on the website of a jewish synagogue near me:

“Regular Membership costs are $1250 for a family and $625 for single individuals. With membership, you are entitled to vote at membership meetings, to serve as synagogue officers or directors if so elected, and to reserve High Holiday seats at Member rates. There is a 50% first-year discount for new members.”

They don’t say what member rates are for high holy day seats though.