What gift do I give a priest leaving our parish?

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Veronica1952

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One of our priests is leaving our parish in July. There will be a reception following one of the masses. Is it appropriate to give a gift at that time? If so, what do you give??
 
No trinkets. Get a wall plaque he can hang in his office, one that recognizes his tenure and service to the church community he is leaving. If you look him up 15 years from now, you will probably find that plaque hanging near his desk.

One pastor of ours, upon being reassigned, told the congregation that yes, he was taking Candles with him. This upset one sweet lady tremendously - she asked how he could consider taking the candles that adorn the altar??? Then Father explained to her what most of the other parishioners already knew: Candles had four feet, a waggy tail, barked, and spent most of his time in the fenced-in yard behind the parsonage.
 
Consider his order.

There is a priest at my parish who is from India and he is returning in the fall.

A friend of mine gave him an Icon, but he cannot take it himself due to limited space on the plane…and he is Franciscan.

My friend is going to arrange to transport the icon for him and likely it will land on the wall of either his officer there or some wall in the parish as community property.

He is also here in our parish looking for support for his Indian parish…so if your pastor has a special intention, consider donating to that in his name as his parting gift.
 
I have been friends with my pastor who has been transferred to a few parishes since he has left. This has been over 20 years! He is also my spiritual director. I have packed him and unpacked him…again and again. People keep giving his ‘stuff’ again and again…nonehteless…people still keep giving him ‘stuff!’ He tries to be sensitive to everyone and most of everyone is laid out…he has at least 100 icons! Tons of plaques…statues… pottery…paintings…about 25 manger scenes…and the list goes on.

What I do now is give him a spiritual bouquet from a Society like The Precious Bood, St Therese, Sacred Heart, etc. Or I give him cash. A lot of people also give good wine or liquor…peanuts…chocolate…etc etc. At least these things will not stack up over the years…he has been ordianed for 33 years!!! Between Christmas, his birthday, his anniversary…boxes pile up. And need to be moved…😃

So think of us poor lay women trying to pack hundreds of boxes for our beloved priest…give him soemthing simple…👍

Blessings,
Shoshana
 
A heartfelt note telling him what he meant to you, and cash. 🙂
 
Absolutely a check. Priests get relatively small salaries and cash gives them the disposable income to add to their pensions or to visit the Vatican.
 
When my pastor retired (or rather tried to) I gave him a really cool planner. It had the typical calendar, address book, etc. but it also had an area to write personal thoughts and things in. It was kinda cool because each page had a bible quote on it. Well the poor guy got called out of retirement before he even got to retire and is in the next town over. He has thanked me many times for this as he had to cover his “new” parish and our parish as well when our pastor went on Reserve weekends as well as a hospital ministy that he has always been involved in. I think it helps him keep all his appointments straight.
 
A pastor I particularly loved (and for whom I worked for years) moved from a rectory environment to his own apartment when he was reassigned to a new parish. Because of that, I knew he’d be doing his own cooking (he had had a housekeeper at the rectory), so my husband and I gave him a very good chef’s knife which we had engraved. It was practical, unusual, and because it was engraved, a nice memento.

'thann
 
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