Sustainability of our Churches

by Letters Editor · February 23, 2017

Graham Pearson, Johannesburg – Sheldon Vandrey’s suggestion regarding the sustainability of our parishes (January 18) is excellent. I certainly know that in our parish, the priest is reluctant to talk about money and we never hear from anybody from the parish pastoral council about contributing weekly.

At this stage, I do not know how sustainable our parish is. It is possible, of course, that we might be in a sustainable position and that is why there is no mention of it, but we do have a number of fundraisers each year which might contribute.

With regard to the article where it is mentioned that each earner should contribute at least 3% of their salary per month, this is the first time that I have heard this figure quantified. I know that at one stage the priest in our previous parish said that 1% was the suggested figure, but that was many years ago and times have changed.

Mr Vandrey’s suggestion that each earner should contribute R50 per month equates to a salary of R5000 per month. In many communities parishioners earn much more than that.