Posted by
Billy on Friday, January 01, 2010 6:41:40 PM
(Below is part of a story from my local paper on how churches took in less income because of the Christmas snow storm we had here in Nebraska. Read it and see what you think.)
The Christmas snowstorm of 2009 hit at one of the worst possible times for churches.
It was bad enough that the storm prevented thousands of families from observing the holiday in church amid the ringing of handbells, the singing of carols and the telling of the Christmas story.
But the storm also led to lean collections on Christmas and the Sunday after, at a time when the Christmas spirit and year-end contributions usually give churches a boost.
That has left many churches looking — and praying — for ways to compensate.
“Wow,” said the Rev. Leroy E. Adams Jr., pastor of Morning Star Baptist Church in Omaha. “That's my reaction. Wow.”
Many Catholic pastors rely on Christmas collections to help them make budget for the year, said the Rev. Joseph Taphorn, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Omaha.
Calling snowstorms “a fact of life in Nebraska,” Taphorn noted that parishes' fiscal years go into June. So there's time to make up for lost donations. That said, he added that some of the donations that people would have made at Christmas Masses probably won't be made later.
“It's a missed opportunity, and you won't make it back completely,” Taphorn said. “But we come from a position of faith, so we have faith that people will come through in other ways to support the work of the church.”
At St. Patrick Catholic Church in the Elkhorn area, the Rev. Ron Wasikowski said he wasn't so much concerned about money as about people having missed out on Christmas Masses.
“God is going to provide,” Wasikowski said. “If we need the money, the folks are going to come through.”
(I understand why churches leaders might be concerned about less money coming in but Rev. Ron Wasikowski is right if something is of God and part of his will he will provide for it. Read the rest of the above story Baskets lightened by storm.)
