Where did this second collection come from?

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Nelka

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We have always had the offertory and on some Sundays there would be a retiring collection at the end as people were leaving.

A short while ago a second collection, every Sunday appeared before the final blessing in the same way as the offertory.

A very short time ago the second collection moved up to the offertory, they collect the standard offertory and then pick up boxes and walk around again for the second collection.

No offence but that second collection immediately after the first seems bizarre. I don’t know whether this is an international, national or diocesan thing but what is happening?

Thanks.
 
I couldn’t say what is going on, but a quick call to your parish office will clear things up.
 
In my archdiocese, there are second collections every year for designated purposes like Catholic Charities, Religious Retirement and others. Many parishes also have second collections for either a building fund or religious education/school. I haven’t seen a collection immediately following another, though. Usually the second collection has been taken up at a later time in the Mass. I remember there being a second collection for something as far back as the 1950s in another archdiocese. It’s nothing new. You would have to talk to your parish to find out about the collections in your parish.
 
Nelka said:
No offence but that second collection immediately after the first seems bizarre. I don’t know whether this is an international, national or diocesan thing but what is happening?
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I’ve only ever seen a second collection immediately following the first. Usually every other week.
 
Wesrock said:
I’ve only ever seen a second collection immediately following the first. Usually every other week.
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In most places that’s been my experience also and to me it’s what makes the most sense. But in my present parish they usually do it between Communion and the Prayer after Communion. That drives me nuts. I like it when they forget and are reminded before the final blessing. 🙂
 
Wesrock said:
I’ve only ever seen a second collection immediately following the first. Usually every other week.
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That’s been my experience too. I have never been to a church that didn’t do it that way. Perhaps it is a regional thing? I have only lived on the east coast of the U.S.
 
This.
PacificNorthwes said:
In my archdiocese, there are second collections every year for designated purposes like Catholic Charities, Religious Retirement and others. Many parishes also have second collections for either a building fund or religious education/school. I haven’t seen a collection immediately following another, though. Usually the second collection has been taken up at a later time in the Mass. I remember there being a second collection for something as far back as the 1950s in another archdiocese. It’s nothing new. You would have to talk to your parish to find out about the collections in your parish.
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And, this.
Wesrock said:
I’ve only ever seen a second collection immediately following the first. Usually every other week.
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A second collection for various needs has been going on in my childhood parish for as long as I can remember and also my home parish of the last 22 years. I do not think it is unusual.
 
The only time I can remember two second collections following immediately after each other were when there was the parish’s usual St. Vincent de Paul Black Bag collection, plus a diocesan-mandated collection on the same weekend. But never the second collection immediately following the first.

At my current parish, if we have a usual second collection (Building Fund is first Sunday of the month), we’ll bump it to the next weekend if there’s a diocesan-mandated second collection.
 
That’s all I ever knew, even back in the 70’s…you don’t have to fish out more cash on the way out!
 
We have a second collection following the first collection every week. The second collection is usually for various charities; Propagation of the Faith, Black & Indian Missions, Church in Africa, etc.
 
Second collections here are regulated first by the diocese, then the parish. Your pastor (or parish staff) would be the only source of a firm answer.
 
I’d say if you have only just begin to experience the weekly second collection, that’s amazing.
The Second collection in my current parish occurs at the end of Mass.
At the previous parish, they were collected at the same time because the pew are ridiculously wide, and it takes forever.

As otters have said, here in the U.S. the second collection schedule is determined by the Chancery. We tend to have about 5 “empty” slots per year, which can be designated at the Pastor’s discretion for local needs, or skipped entirely.

I would think much would depend on your parish’s norms, preferences of your pastor, and possible disruption to liturgy issues.

Just ask, for pete’s sake. It’s not big of a deal. Most pastors are very approachable.
 
Our present pastor does not like second collections. If we want to donate to a special collection or a special purpose like St. Vincent de Paul, school tuition fund etc. we must use the specially marked envelopes or put it in an envelope and clearly mark where it is to go then put it in the one and only collection. The only time he allows for a second collection is when a mission priest insists on having a second collection because they do not want to miss out on any loose change and bills. Each pastor has some say over how he wants to do second collections.
 
zab said:
Our present pastor does not like second collections. If we want to donate to a special collection or a special purpose like St. Vincent de Paul, school tuition fund etc. we must use the specially marked envelopes or put it in an envelope and clearly mark where it is to go then put it in the one and only collection. The only time he allows for a second collection is when a mission priest insists on having a second collection because they do not want to miss out on any loose change and bills. Each pastor has some say over how he wants to do second collections.
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We have the regular second collections ordered by the CCCB: Holy Land; Missions; Needs of the Church in Canada; Development and Peace; Pope’s Pastoral Works; and then we have the diocesan collections: Good Shepherd Fund & Seminary Students Fund. In each case we have a second collection primarily to make sure we get all that loose change and dollar bills, because only a fraction of those who attend Mass use envelopes so we’d miss out on a lot of money if we didn’t do it that way.
 
many catholic parishes are running at a very serious negative cash flow

the logic of the 2nd collection is quite clear

“the parish needs MORE money”
 
I asked the Parish admin about 2 collections this week.

One is for our envelopes, the other for loose change.
 
In Australia, the first collection is for the parish, the second for the priest’s upkeep. I think. The time that the 2nd collection is taken up varies between parishes.

I was mighty confused at first, because in Ireland where I come from there are 4 collections a year for the priests of the parish, and they replace the first collection. 2nd collections in Ireland would be for non-parish charities or diocese projects.
 
ShrodingersCat said:
In Australia, the first collection is for the parish, the second for the priest’s upkeep. I think. The time that the 2nd collection is taken up varies between parishes.

I was mighty confused at first, because in Ireland where I come from there are 4 collections a year for the priests of the parish, and they replace the first collection. 2nd collections in Ireland would be for non-parish charities or diocese projects.
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In Canadian parishes most second collections would also be for non-parish charities/projects.

In our box of donation envelopes is a monthly one for “Building Fund” but we don’t do a second collection for that, people just opt in or out by dropping that envelope in with the regular collection.

We don’t do a special collection for the priest, he’s paid his salary out of regular revenue. Once a year we have a second collection for the “Good Shepherd Fund” a fund to help retired priests.
 
brian_custer said:
many catholic parishes are running at a very serious negative cash flow

the logic of the 2nd collection is quite clear

“the parish needs MORE money”
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In the U.S., the second collection is very seldom fro the parish. It may be for flowers for Easter and Christmas, but those are really the only ones. Second collections are for the Bishop’s charities, Peter’s Pence, Seminarians, that like.
 
Phemie said:
In Canadian parishes most second collections would also be for non-parish charities/projects.

In our box of donation envelopes is a monthly one for “Building Fund” but we don’t do a second collection for that, people just opt in or out by dropping that envelope in with the regular collection.

We don’t do a special collection for the priest, he’s paid his salary out of regular revenue. Once a year we have a second collection for the “Good Shepherd Fund” a fund to help retired priests.
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Same here. Its called “Retired Religious” and goes to a National fund for Priests and Nuns.

The Building Fund is only for those with a capital project either 1) needed or 2) not yet paid off in full. There are Building Fund envelops always available but those 2nd collections for that are only a scant few times a year, as the Bishop’s list of must-haves is pretty long, as I stated before.

For those who still can’t figure their parish finances out, simply have coffee with the Chairman of the Finance committee or volunteer to be a money counter. Then you will see the myriad places where various donations go.
Only Mass stipends go directly to the priest, but only after it has run through the Church account and he is written a monthly check, along with his grocery allowance.
Fun fact: The Parish priest only sees the bottom line. He’s not supposed to see what individuals give. With software packages, I’m sure they can peek, but all of the priests I have worked for make it a practice not to look. They don’t want to be influences by heavy givers or scant givers when decision making or ministering to people.
But the Archdiocese has lots of regulations for what you can collect, what they can tax, and what you can keep.
 
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