How much to give the local priest? (rural living)

One_Of_Shanks

So....... A knock at the door at 8pm this evening and it's the neighbour next door asking for a donation to the local priest/church.

Brief background probably useful..... We've been here a year, get on fine with neighbours, we're not in the least bit religious.

So I gave her 2.65 which is all I had in coins.

The dog was barking and I didnt want the kids woken and I'm from Dublin originally so the whole thing of person gathering money for local church is foreign to me and I was caught on the hop a bit.
The lady was perfectly polite and said thanks but did seem taken aback by my scant donation.

So I close the door and then get the head eaten off me by my missus saying I should have given at "least a tenner ffs".

Shes from Mayo so shes saying that you should always give a tenner.

How the hell am I supposed to know what you should "always give"?

So should I call round tomorrow and part with a tenner? Or would that look even worse?

I think I should leave it but herself is saying give the tenner tomorrow.

Feckin stupid situation imo. It's a Friday night, kids in bed and here I am worrying about supposedly not giving enough money to a religion that I dont even believe in.

Crazy crap.

Any thoughts?

SEPT 23 1989

Leaving Dublin was a mistake

Allinall

One_Of_Shanks wrote: »

So....... A knock at the door at 8pm this evening and it's the neighbour next door asking for a donation to the local priest/church.

Brief background probably useful..... We've been here a year, get on fine with neighbours, we're not in the least bit religious.

So I gave her 2.65 which is all I had in coins.

The dog was barking and I didnt want the kids woken and I'm from Dublin originally so the whole thing of person gathering money for local church is foreign to me and I was caught on the hop a bit.
The lady was perfectly polite and said thanks but did seem taken aback by my scant donation.

So I close the door and then get the head eaten off me by my missus saying I should have given at "least a tenner ffs".

Shes from Mayo so shes saying that you should always give a tenner.

How the hell am I supposed to know what you should "always give"?

So should I call round tomorrow and part with a tenner? Or would that look even worse?

I think I should leave it but herself is saying give the tenner tomorrow.

Feckin stupid situation imo. It's a Friday night, kids in bed and here I am worrying about supposedly not giving enough money to a religion that I dont even believe in.

Crazy crap.

Any thoughts?

If you don't go round with the tenner you'll go to hell.

Up to you really.

Delphinium

Let it go. If you are not using the service why should you pay, It is assumed in rural areas that you are a church goer. Might change when your child begins school and you decide that they will take part in religious ceremonies. Worry about something that matters.

deandean

2.65 that is simply an insult. I'd have more change knocking around in my pubes.
Either tell her no get lost, or give her a 20 / 50.

gifted

Tell the neighbour he can have a night with your missus....for 1 million euros...should keep him away from the door

3 the square

Give twenty ul get it back on the double in good fortune.

diomed

Do you not know the list of donations are read out at every mass on Sunday?

tomwaterford

Tell them to fcuk right off calling to your door looking for money



Grandfather done that 50 odd years ago....the church is the richest organisation in the country

stimpson

Put all your money in a trust and when he comes around tell him you're broke.

It's what the church did instead of paying damages to the people they abused so they'll understand.

You should have told her you're a Jehova's Witness, and would she like to hear The Good News?

Wouldn't be long turning on her old wagon wheels.

ger vallely

Blast em with piss.

corner of hells

OP , your fcuked.You'll be struck by.lightening the minute you leave the house.

On a more serious note , how hot was the neighbour collecting the cash ?'

diomed

tomwaterford wrote: »

Tell them to fcuk right off calling to your door looking for money

Grandfather done that 50 odd years ago....the church is the richest organisation in the country

CRH is number 1 in the top 1000 companies with profit of €1 billion. That equates to about €250 for every man, woman, child. Your stat might be a bit off.
Ok, I know CRH has overseas businesses, but I doubt you have seen the accounts of the Church of Ireland.

BreadnBuddha

Tell your missus to go and give them a tenner tomorrow if she thinks it's due.

If you're not 'in' you don't owe them anything more than a "No thank you. Appreciate if you wouldn't come asking again as I'm not Catholic, especially at a time the children are gone to bed. Goodnight".

myshirt

Well, someone's not getting the jump tonight.

Fleawuss

Why are they calling door to door? They used to collect with envelopes. You get a box of pre printed and some of them are for priest. I'd be very suspicious of what was going on with a door to door. It could well be a nosy git trying to Suss you out. Check with the Gardai if anyone was collecting officially with a permit and if not make a complaint. Be gas to see the outcome.

dmc17

tomwaterford wrote: »

Tell them to fcuk right off calling to your door looking for money



Grandfather done that 50 odd years ago....the church is the richest organisation in the country

They've got a good business model though. You give us your money and we'll give you some imaginary products in return for your money. It keeps production costs down

corner of hells

ger vallely wrote: »

Blast em with piss.

Hehehe, the day will come someone in AH will actually blast someone with piss.

And come in here and relate the story to us.

_Brian

I'm from rural Ireland and never heard of such door to door collections for the priest.
Wouldn't be contributing anything. Those who go to mass make donations there. If they want more donations they need to make church more attractive to more people which they won't do.

Starscream25

All this door calling looking for
Money should be illegal. All it does is feed on people's Guilt, naivety and innocence, sometimes it can be hard to say no tho when looking someone straight in the eye when you really just want them to get lost.

corner of hells

_Brian wrote: »

I'm from rural Ireland and never heard of such door to door collections for the priest.
Wouldn't be contributing anything. Those who go to mass make donations there. If they want more donations they need to make church more attractive to more people which they won't do.

Is it possible you're the priest, father Brian ?

Akrasia

dmc17 wrote: »

They've got a good business model though. You give us your money and we'll give you some imaginary products in return for your money. It keeps production costs down

Yeah, and what's with this unleavened ****e they give out at communion. If it was a proper sandwich I might even go to mass.

corner of hells

Akrasia wrote: »

Yeah, and what's with this unleavened ****e they give out at communion. If it was a proper sandwich I might even go to mass.

And we don't even get to taste the wine.
Unless you rob it of out of the sacristy.
Not that I know anything about that , no sir.

dmc17

Akrasia wrote: »

Yeah, and what's with this unleavened ****e they give out at communion. If it was a proper sandwich I might even go to mass.

And they hog all the wine for themselves

jester77

I thought they send around a basket during their service? Or do they not to that any more and call around to all the neighbours instead.

super_furry

People begging door to door should be grateful for whatever they're given.

JohnCleary

"Is the church stuck for a few bob? I'd be delighted to help. Tell you what, i'll call down at a time that suits and we'll look over the accounts. Obviously* they're in dire need. I'll donate and the church can issue a receipt so I can write it off (tax) as a donation"

You'll never hear from the cnuts again

* = sarcasm

corner of hells

jester77 wrote: »

I thought they send around a basket during their service? Or do they not to that any more and call around to all the neighbours instead.

People kept putting buttons and tokens in the basket.

tomwaterford

diomed wrote: »

CRH is number 1 in the top 1000 companies with profit of €1 billion. That equates to about €250 for every man, woman, child. Your stat might be a bit off.
Ok, I know CRH has overseas businesses, but I doubt you have seen the accounts of the Church of Ireland.

Catholic Church and church of Ireland are different organisations???




They hold vast swades of land in most towns and cities of Ireland.....they are by far and away the richest in ireland



Either way it's 2016.....the days of people feeling they have to give money to them are long gone.....OP should try get his money back

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

_Brian wrote: »

I'm from rural Ireland and never heard of such door to door collections for the priest.
Wouldn't be contributing anything. Those who go to mass make donations there. If they want more donations they need to make church more attractive to more people which they won't do.

Never heard of a collection when a priest was leaving after years in a parish? What part of rural Ireland has never had a collection for something like that?

OP, if you're not a practicing catholic then don't contribute if you don't want too. It's not expected.

Dick phelan

Never heard of people calling door to door for church donations very odd. I'd say either give nothing (what i'd do) or give 10 or 20, bit of a waste giving them less then 3 euro.

Red Kev

Your wife's from Mayo and you're a Dub?

Ask her who won the match 3 weeks ago, crack open a beer, put your feet up on the coffee table and let the Church go ta fcuk.

Turtyturd

I am from Dublin and remember the nosey old f*cks going around door to door for the 'church collection'.

BreadnBuddha

Dick phelan wrote: »

Never heard of people calling door to door for church donations very odd. I'd say either give nothing (what i'd do) or give 10 or 20, bit of a waste giving them less then 3 euro.

You must be one of those builders we all heard about, throwing their change in the bin after getting their breakfast rolls in Centra. :pac:

3 euro is better than a kick in the tits. It's also a lot more than some oul wan knocking on the door begging would get from most people under different auspices.

GLaDOS

I'd go and ask for my €2.65 back personally

LordSutch

One_Of_Shanks wrote: »

So....... A knock at the door at 8pm this evening and it's the neighbour next door asking for a donation to the local priest/church.

I'm still trying to get my head around the 1st sentence

..people knocking on other peoples hall doors looking for contributions for the local Priest/RC Church!

Like don't they have collection plates in the RC Church during Sunday worship?

Sounds totally crazy to me, then again I kick with the other foot

Dick phelan

Dick phelan wrote: »

Never heard of people calling door to door for church donations very odd.

It's very common at home for the local Catholic Priest to deliver envelopes, door-to-door, for donations. There's one for every feast day and every Sunday. Our neighbour always leaves them in our postbox as a jape (we're not catholics, he is an atheist; the Priest respects our faith but not his lack of it!).

I think it's a common way of fundraising in all churches. Never heard of cash donations though.

Sounds a bit naive on behalf of the organisers to be handling donations like that.

Ted111

GLaDOS wrote: »

I'd go and ask for my €2.65 back personally

Yes. Tell em the Deals Off.

You and your pocket change are WALKING.

One_Of_Shanks

deandean wrote: »

2.65 that is simply an insult. I'd have more change knocking around in my pubes.
Either tell her no get lost, or give her a 20 / 50.

Funnily enough that's the gist of what the missus said. (minus the pubes bit)

So it would be better to not give anything than to give 2.65?

Weird. I'd always rather have 2.65 than nothing, personally. It's genuinely all the coins I had and I didn't know she was expecting a tenner or more.
So the logic is you either give 10/20 quid or nothing? But whatever you do, don't give spare change?

Somebody mentioned the All Ireland.... Ha, yeah well lets just say I had to walk past a very large Mayo flag in my own garden for a fortnight but suddenly it vanished one saturday evening.
Don't worry, that win was worth a lot more than 2.65

theteal

Now that I see this thread I do remember one of the neighbours used to call to my folks weekly to collect the church envelope.

I assumed that lark is long finished, i can't imagine too many want to contribute to the fiddlers reparations

AgileMyth

diomed wrote: »

CRH is number 1 in the top 1000 companies with profit of €1 billion. That equates to about €250 for every man, woman, child. Your stat might be a bit off.
Ok, I know CRH has overseas businesses, but I doubt you have seen the accounts of the Church of Ireland.

And they're just as corrupt and twisted as the church.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

AgileMyth wrote: »

And they're just as corrupt and twisted as the church.

Care to elaborate on CRH being corrupt?

DEFTLEFTHAND

Sounds a bit dodgy tbh, I've never heard of the Church collecting donations in this manner.

I'd pay a visit to the local Garda station if I were you.

demanufactured

"No thanks"

Close the door.

One_Of_Shanks

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Sounds a bit dodgy tbh, I've never heard of the Church collecting donations in this manner.

I'd pay a visit to the local Garda station if I were you.

She's my neighbour so I don't want to do anything like that. I'm sure she's genuine anyway. She said "here's the priest's letter if you'd like to see it".
I don't really care what the letter contained, I just wanted to go back to watching tv and at the same time throw in a few coins to keep everyone happy.

It didn't work out that way but that was the idea.

R P McMurphy

Never answer the door ... no good ever comes from it

corner of hells

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Sounds a bit dodgy tbh, I've never heard of the Church collecting donations in this manner.

I'd pay a visit to the local Garda station if I were you.

And get a few euro's off the Gardai ?
That's a good idea.

foggy_lad

"Oh we do all that kind of thing Privately by direct debit into the parish account". Door closes and nothing more will be heard of it. Wave and smile/chat with neighbour whenever you see them.

endacl

ger vallely wrote: »

Blast em with piss.

We're not allowed to do that any more.

Stealthfins

I remember giving a tenner before towards the church and a box of chocolates to give to a family who had a limited means around Christmas time 11 years ago to a parish priest in North Clare.

I was new to the neighborhood and he lived a few houses away.

Not even a thanks,I now I feel I should give him the bird sometimes.
I told him the story when he called over,he was taken aback when I said "you never bothered with a response to my Christmas cheer "

I ain't religious but at the time my mother suggested I give something,as she's old school.

Never again