Woman keeps trying to steal from weekly collection!

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ItalianBoy1993

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Hey all. I’m not too sure which thread i should have posted this under , but i thought that everyone here would be able to help most, because you all seem to have a pretty good sense of right / wrong, etc.

I am in charge of the Altar Servers and am the Choir Master & Music Director at my church. There is a woman that continually tries to steal money from our weekly collection. The pastor knows who she is, and we all do all we can to keep the money away from the woman. But what can we do that might make her stop trying to steal from us? She goes into the sacristy and disrupts the sanctuary in between masses and it’s disrespectful to the pastor, and God. I was wondering what might make a person steal from a church, and from the altar of God, and what we might be able to do to make her stop. Thanks for all your help. You guys are great!
 
ItalianBoy1993 said:
Hey all. I’m not too sure which thread i should have posted this under , but i thought that everyone here would be able to help most, because you all seem to have a pretty good sense of right / wrong, etc.

I am in charge of the Altar Servers and am the Choir Master & Music Director at my church. There is a woman that continually tries to steal money from our weekly collection. The pastor knows who she is, and we all do all we can to keep the money away from the woman. But what can we do that might make her stop trying to steal from us? She goes into the sacristy and disrupts the sanctuary in between masses and it’s disrespectful to the pastor, and God. I was wondering what might make a person steal from a church, and from the altar of God, and what we might be able to do to make her stop. Thanks for all your help. You guys are great!
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I think that she might be mentally ill----?? It sounds like she is. The pastor ought to refer her to a mental health agency—if she has family, he need to contact them, so that they can take care of that. Does he know her family—or is she homeless?? sometimes people do things out of sheer desperation, despite mental illness. Nonetheless, the pastor needs to take action.
 
When I read your title I had to reread it!
I have no idea what would make a person do such a thing, unless she had a malfunctioning conscience or something. Or latent anger toward God, and this is her way of getting back at Him…I honestly have no idea. Has the priest talked to her about it yet? He’d be a good person for her to talk any issues through with…maybe she’s poor and needs every buck she can get? (If so, then the priest can inform her of legal ways they could help her. Otherwise the other option is contacting the police. It’s still stealing, no matter what.

Meanwhile, maybe you guys can get a safe, and lock the money in there after the collection. (And have only two or three people have keys/password to it.) That way there’s no opportunity for her to grab a handful and run.

These are just ideas off the top of my head, and I hope that your parish can get it all worked out soon 🙂
 
The problem is that we don’t know her. She just shows up and takes. we’re not sure what we should do…we end up watching like a hawk.
 
ItalianBoy1993 said:
Hey all. I’m not too sure which thread i should have posted this under , but i thought that everyone here would be able to help most, because you all seem to have a pretty good sense of right / wrong, etc.

I am in charge of the Altar Servers and am the Choir Master & Music Director at my church. There is a woman that continually tries to steal money from our weekly collection. The pastor knows who she is, and we all do all we can to keep the money away from the woman. But what can we do that might make her stop trying to steal from us? She goes into the sacristy and disrupts the sanctuary in between masses and it’s disrespectful to the pastor, and God. I was wondering what might make a person steal from a church, and from the altar of God, and what we might be able to do to make her stop. Thanks for all your help. You guys are great!
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This sounds like a terrible situation. You said the pastor was aware–has he tried to do something to stop this. Maybe the bishop needs to be made aware. It seems that if things don’t change–the authorities may need to come into the picture.
 
ItalianBoy1993 said:
The problem is that we don’t know her. She just shows up and takes. we’re not sure what we should do…we end up watching like a hawk.
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I think a sufficiently strong lockable petty cash box - kept in an out-of-sight location preferably not in the sacristy - should be sufficient.
 
well the money doesn’t stay in the sacristy for more than 5-10 minutes. after the priests are done greeting the people after mass, they go back into the sacristy and bring the money into the parish office in the rectory to have it counted. this woman manages to get onto the altar within 5 minutes of the ending of mass. I do my best to get the money out of there quickly, but sometimes i just cant, as i have a lot of other things i need to take care of.
 
It sounds like the authorities need to come into the picture. Do you know where the woman usually sits during Mass? If you do, you could point her out to the plainclothesmen and they can keep an eye on her after Mass, catching her in the act so to speak.

It sounds so bad, having to rely on the police in such a ‘protected’ place, but I think it sounds like it’s gone on for long enough.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for everything. I think that sounds liek a good idea, i will talk to the pastor.
 
ItalianBoy1993 said:
well the money doesn’t stay in the sacristy for more than 5-10 minutes. after the priests are done greeting the people after mass, they go back into the sacristy and bring the money into the parish office in the rectory to have it counted. this woman manages to get onto the altar within 5 minutes of the ending of mass. I do my best to get the money out of there quickly, but sometimes i just cant, as i have a lot of other things i need to take care of.
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Getting the authorities involved seems to be a good idea.
 
Is she poor? Does she need $$ to survive? For her children? While not condoning the action, there may be a less sinister motive. Perhaps the pastor can talk with her and make her see the errors of her ways.

If she needs a job, could the pastor locate a job for her?
 
Sounds like “the tweezer lady” who used very long tweezers to dredge money out of the poor box and who used to walk off with the collection if at all possible.

What we did was to empty the poor box and take the money to the rectory, frequently.

When she arrived at the rear of the chapel when Mass was in session, the head EMC would give us the “high sign” and we would silently greet her with a smile and a bow and stand next to her without saying anything. Eventually, she would leave.

But we had to be vigilant.
 
Also, assign two men from the parish to be around the money any time it is “stealable”, before it is safely locked away. I doubt she’ll do anything in the face of their presence.
 
Al_Masetti said:
Sounds like “the tweezer lady” who used very long tweezers to dredge money out of the poor box and who used to walk off with the collection if at all possible.

What we did was to empty the poor box and take the money to the rectory, frequently.

When she arrived at the rear of the chapel when Mass was in session, the head EMC would give us the “high sign” and we would silently greet her with a smile and a bow and stand next to her without saying anything. Eventually, she would leave.

But we had to be vigilant.
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That is unbelievable! Where do people like this come from? :confused:
 
ItalianBoy1993 said:
Hey She goes into the sacristy and disrupts the sanctuary in between masses and it’s disrespectful to the pastor, and God. I !
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how does she get in there? every church I ever attended or worked in has the outside door locked, and the only other entrance to the sacristy is from the altar, and it would be very obvious if anyone other than priest, servers, ministers etc. entered. that door is also usually locked between Masses. The collection basket is placed in front of the ambo when the gifts are taken up, and almost immediately picked up by an usher, taken to the sacristy and locked in a safe.

leaving the money lying around open, and leaving the door open to the sacristy sounds like an open invitation to any thief, let alone a woman who sounds mentally disturbed.
 
Here’s a thought. WHy not switch the money and not actually take it to the altar, just take up an empty basket. Then one of the ushers can take it secretly to an office and/or lock it up somewhere?
 
ItalianBoy1993 said:
Hey all. I’m not too sure which thread i should have posted this under , but i thought that everyone here would be able to help most, because you all seem to have a pretty good sense of right / wrong, etc.

I am in charge of the Altar Servers and am the Choir Master & Music Director at my church. There is a woman that continually tries to steal money from our weekly collection. The pastor knows who she is, and we all do all we can to keep the money away from the woman. But what can we do that might make her stop trying to steal from us? She goes into the sacristy and disrupts the sanctuary in between masses and it’s disrespectful to the pastor, and God. I was wondering what might make a person steal from a church, and from the altar of God, and what we might be able to do to make her stop. Thanks for all your help. You guys are great!
Click to expand...
How sad! It sounds to me that she might be mentally ill. Is there counseling available at your Church? Does she know that everyone knows what she is doing? If so, it definitely sounds like illness to me. Nobody in their right mind would try to steal knowing that they are being watched, it’s just common sense. Pray for her and I wll do the same.
 
I heard a story about an eccentric old lady who would help herself from the collection plate. She was so batty that people just ignored her, deciding she was very poor.

When she died, she left the church a million in stocks that she had raised by pilfering from the plate.
 
VociMike said:
Also, assign two men from the parish to be around the money any time it is “stealable”, before it is safely locked away. I doubt she’ll do anything in the face of their presence.
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I know of parishes where after some bad experiences, they began the use of volunteer off-duty police officers to guard the collection. The chalices and other sacred vessels also had to be rigorously guarded and carefully locked away.
 
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