Money | Stewardship

UNEXPECTED GIVING
On Friday, I had the opportunity to hear Conrad Tietel, one of America’s foremost authorities on philanthropic giving and taxes. He told a couple of interesting stories: He said that churches in his part of the country, Greenwich, Connecticut, were having so many raffles of cars to raise money, that the automobile dealers got together and raffled off a church. He also told of Harold who had pledged $100.00 to his church’s building fund. The next day the local paper published his name in a list of $1000.00 contributors. When he called the church office to report the error, he was told that they would print a retraction the following day. Harold didn’t want that, so he gave the additional $900.00. When the building was finished, all $1000.00 contributors were allowed to choose a favorite Bible verse to be placed under a stained glass window in the sanctuary. Harold’s was “I was a stranger, and you took me in.”