The Diocese of Honolulu just had the second collection for July. The collection was for the support of the educational costs for seminarians. I sincerely hope that the collection was sizeable as the annual deficit stands around $200,000.
Some second collections mean more to me than others — the seminarian fund, Catholic Relief Service Rice Bowl, Religious Retirement Fund, Augustine Educational Fund and Peter’s Pence. I know in advance about the second collection by church donation envelopes, diocesan e-news, and lastly the church bulletin.
I truly believe it would help boost the second collection by someone saying something about the future collection. “There will be a second collection for … next week … or today” is quite tepid, honestly. That will probably lead to a median range donation of a dollar or two when the basket goes around a second time.
Mass attendees like myself need to think whether the second collection will be more than the weekly collection for the parish. Is it worth it? If the request is tepid, who should care? A bulletin item is OK, but many don’t read the bulletin. Church collections are needed. They are necessary if the parish, diocese and church are to operate smoothly.
Remember, collections (parish or second) are part of the triad of stewardship.
Lawrence (Larry) M.O. Chun
Kailua,