This morning at church, I absently took the piles of papers out of my church mailbox-little bulletins of events coming up, various religious publications, etc. Once I settled into my seat, one plain white envelope with our names neatly written across the front in red letters caught my attention.Curious as to what it was, I paused for a moment before lifting the flap and sliding out the contents.
Enclosed was my financial giving statement, and the most curious part to me was what was scrawled across the top corner in bright red pen. A grade.
C+
with a frownie face.
It initially made me defensive. A few months ago, we signed up for automatic withdrawal because we wanted to make sure we were giving our first fruits, even when we could not make it to church. I have thoughts on this that I won't get too far into here. I love the ease and convenience of it, but sometimes feel the act of giving part is taken out. I digress.
The whole situation hurts my feelings, honestly. Mostly because I feel like I have been giving an A effort, and there have been months it has been a struggle for us to give. I feel like it is ultimately between God/Josh and I. Why would the church give me a grade? How would they even know what grade to give, more less a bright red frown face?
It is a CRC thing? Growing up baptist, we did not get grades. As a matter of fact, no one should have known what our giving was (although I am sure that information was divulged anyway).
Getting a grade for it just feels....like a church thing instead of a God thing.
8 comments:
that is curious, and odd. and i have no idea if this is a CRC thing, i've never heard of it before. i will have to look at ours.
my goodness, that is weird.
I'm quite disconcerted.
Ours did not have a grade! I believe someone is playing a trick on you. Our church has never done anything like this before! Why should anyone be graded on how they give? You give what you can, not what anyone thinks you should.
That is bizarre, and I think you should call the church about it.
that's very odd and strange,and I don't believe ours had a grade. ...and I agree with you; I don't believe you should be judged on your giving....it is a thing between you and God. I am sorry that someone hurt your feelings.
Well, I certainly have no idea. I had asked a question about direct deposit (to the appropriate church member), so along with the mediocre grade atop, there was also the answer to my question near the bottom. The person's signature, answer, and grade were all in the same red pen.
So odd. I think maybe I will e-mail Scott.
Jamie,
I remember having the same feeling many years ago. Curious...It was the CRC church. At Hager Park we make our committment (between God) and the budget is then made with that...No more said. I have not been able to do the ACH thing...I agree that it feels so "mechanical".
Joan
Jamie - I need to apologize for the "grade" on your church giving statement. This was simply an attempt at a joke because the treasurer's son is in Josh's class at Dutton. The ‘grade’ was only an attempt tease a little about the apparent misreading of the statement itself and was in no way aimed at your actual giving….a lighthearted attempt at humor that obviously missed its mark. I believe you were contacted already but if I can answer any other questions, just let me know (318-3897)
What's sadder - that sorry excuse for a joke or the fact that I wouldn't be surprised if Caledonia actually did that?
I know this is all settled, but I just want to respond to the last comment by "anonymous." Really? You think Caledonia would do that? I feel very strongly that they would never - thus my immediate response of, "It must be a joke."
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