Learning to Count

@DWDavis (25797)
United States
August 28, 2023 7:01am CST
Yes, friends, today I am going to town to learn to count. Money, that is. My priest asked me to join the counting team for our parish. There are supposed to be four teams. Each team is supposed to count the weekend offerings and record the amounts once a month. One of my conditions for accepting this tasking was his understanding that during camping season, there would be many Mondays I would not be available. He agreed to work around my camping schedule. Today, I am going to the parish office to learn the procedures for counting the amounts and recording them correctly. I may pop by the school while I'm there to say hello. Have you ever worked on a church or civic committee involving significant amounts of money?
14 people like this
12 responses
@DaddyEvil (174281)
• United States
28 Aug 23
Nope. But I have been the manager for various stores/restaurants and had to total the take for the day before depositing the money in the bank.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
28 Aug 23
That's similar to what we'll be doing. I'll find out today if taking the money to the bank is part of our job.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (174281)
• United States
28 Aug 23
@DWDavis When counting money at Walmart, we used a scale that weighed each denomination and wrote down the weights. The total weight of the stacked bills gave us the total amount for that denomination. Change was weighed the same way and totals written down. Other stores we counted by hand to get the totals before we deposited the money.
2 people like this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
29 Aug 23
@DaddyEvil How accurate was the weighing method? I would think there must be some margin of error since the bills wear out the more they're circulated.
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (141906)
• Philippines
28 Aug 23
I used to work in an international NGO and dealing with money to pay the local volunteers in the community.
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (141906)
• Philippines
29 Aug 23
@DWDavis It was a big challenge for me at that time. Logistic is not a piece of cake when dealing with money.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
29 Aug 23
That was a big responsibility, being entrusted with disbursing cash.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
29 Aug 23
@Shavkat Being responsible for someone else's funds does tend to make one a mite anxious and nervous.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (120592)
• United States
28 Aug 23
I used to count the money of the Sunday offering, record it, and then pass it off to the person who deposited it in the bank. But I’m not Catholic, so the amount you’ll be handling will be far more than I handled.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
29 Aug 23
We also have to break out the special collections by category for accounting purposes. It can take a bit of time, but is not difficult.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (208776)
• United States
28 Aug 23
No, but my brother in law has done that for a church. One time he took his young son along who was playing with toys in the Sunday school class.in a different room He.drove home.and forgot he had left him there! Dave was frantic, thinking Andrew was frantic..but Andrew was calm and barely missing him. He must have found something fun to play with!
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
29 Aug 23
I know the panic Dave felt. I forgot to pick my oldest son up on my way home from work. Luckily I realized it in time, made a quick u-turn, and got to his school before he began to worry.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86583)
• United States
28 Aug 23
No, not cash. However, I did the “registered” section at the post office once upon a time, where hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise was stored. I’ve handled checks at companies, but not pictures of Andy, Abe, and Ben.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
29 Aug 23
We had a large number of checks, some of which we had to record as going to different accounts. Fortunately, the office has a good system for tracking these split checks.
@wolfgirl569 (135601)
• Marion, Ohio
28 Aug 23
Never wanted to handle money for someplace else
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
29 Aug 23
I have been the treasurer for a few of the organizations I've been a member of. The dollar amounts never approached what we're handling for the church.
1 person likes this
@marlina (154103)
• Canada
28 Aug 23
NO, never
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (97908)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
28 Aug 23
I have never worked for a church or civic committee, The best of luck to you,
1 person likes this
@Ronrybs (21503)
• London, England
28 Aug 23
I once had the job of counting the money taken by a two-one armed bandits. Hated it!
1 person likes this
@db20747 (43419)
• Washington, District Of Columbia
28 Aug 23
This is a good service to the church. They need good reliable people for this job
1 person likes this
@Chellezhere (6421)
• United States
28 Aug 23
Upon assignment to his first parish, our rector emeritus' Bishop said as rector, he should always pay his 10%. Historically, the wealthiest congregants do not, so he needed to set a good example. I was not the treasurer. I was the United Thank Offering Coordinator, an alter guild member, and a lay reader. But I could see that what his Bishop said was true. The wealthy rarely tithed their 10%. I also knew it was not the treasurer's, vestry's, or the United Thank Offering Coordinator's place to complain or gossip about who paid what. That information was not to be disclosed to anyone. But many have gossiped, then alienated the struggling and poor who haven't paid a tithe, but have put all the spare change they had into the collection plate. Many of the struggling and poor also give their 10% by volunteering. You can't get blood from a stone. Besides, God commands us to feed the poor, and he isn't only talking about food. They also need to be fed with His word. Proverbs 14:31, 17:5, 22:16, 22:22, 28:3 Deuteronomy 24:14 Isaiah 3:15 Amos 2:7, 4:1, 5:11, 5:12, 8:4, 8:6 Jeremiah 2:34, 5:28 Ecclesiastes 5:8 Habakkuk 3:14 Zechariah 7:10 John 2:6 1 Corinthians 11:22 Job 20:19, 24:4, 24:9, 24:14, 31:16 Ezekiel 16:49, 18:12, 22:29 James 2:6
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
28 Aug 23
No the only money I ever handled was in a gas station. Have a good week.
1 person likes this