Taking up the collection: why no women?

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🤣 You’re expected to leave it in the large community basket yourself as you enter or leave.
 
Genesis315 said:
Maybe this is just my experience, but having been to many parishes in my life since certain roles have been opened up to women or laity in general, I see a majority of EMHC as women, a majority of readers, a majority in the choir, and probably 50/50 female altar servers, organist/music leaders, and people bringing up the bread and wine.

And yet, for some reason, going down the aisles with the collection basket seems to be the only lay role that remains in practice the exclusive province of men.

Any thoughts on why this is?
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Not here in the Philippines.

Females are not permitted to be altar servers or EMHC’s. They can be commentators, readers, ushers, and take round the collection baskets. Here I have never seen men taking the collection.
 
DeniseNY said:
The more time I spend on CAF, the more I become convinced that there are a lot of Catholic men who:

A. Don’t respect women
B. Don’t really like women (and I don’t mean sexually, but just as people)
C. Both of the above

It’s quite astonishing.
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I don’t think it’s “a lot.” I just think it’s a loud minority.
 
I was once part of an uncommonly large KofC honor guard for the bishop, where we were really there as supplemental security.

An unstable woman had been threatening him, and armed diocesan security briefed us on what to watch for and how to signal them.

Nothing happened.

(And since I’m horrified by the third world paratroopers’ outfits that have replaced our regalia, I’ll never be in this situation again!)

hawk
 
That’s not the case in my parish. There’s a fairly even mix of male and female collectors. I suspect the phenomenon in the churches you have attended is down to “it’s always been men” and no-one wants to be the first to change it.
 
jimXroberts said:
I suspect the phenomenon in the churches you have attended is down to “it’s always been men” and no-one wants to be the first to change it.
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That would be my guess as well…inertia, plain and simple. “Men have always done it”.
 
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Another possible explanation is if in a parish women predominantly serve in other areas, men being collectors give them a chance to serve. In these parishes women might have a greater desire and be more comfortable serving in other capacities than men are. All parishes are different. In at least one I go to it’s mostly women serving in other capacities at Mass while it’s men doing the collection.
 
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Visiting my daughter in another province this week and thought of this thread when I saw at least two women taking up the collection at Mass yesterday.
 
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