Parish Office Mailing: Fill & Download for Free

No. And the last time I was in a church, I wouldn’t go up for the blessing, either, despite a lot of pressure from my host to do so.If you’re not familiar with it, during Catholic communion services, anyone can go up and cross their arms across their chest in an X to receive a blessing from the priest instead of taking communion. But it’s entirely optional, especially for non-Catholic visitors. Those who are not going up for the communion or a blessing are simply to remain seated quietly as the rest of the row goes up for their turns.As an atheist, I’m uncomfortable taking part in any religious rituals. Of course I stay out of the way and quietly let people get on with their rituals, but I expect them to respect that I’m unwilling to actively participate.You may be wondering how I came to be at a Catholic mass in the first place. After my husband died, one of his close friends seems to have decided that I was his church project. He knew I was an atheist, and being a really devout Catholic, I think he decided to “save” me. For almost three years, I fended off all his attempts to involve me in his religion. So he switched it up.His winning tactic to get me into his church was to have the church hold memorial masses for my late husband (who was, by the way, not Catholic either). So he invited me to join him and his wife for this special thing, and I felt I would be a dick to refuse to attend something like that, especially when he made it obvious how important it was to him. I thought it might help with his grief over losing a good friend.He made this sound like some big deal with a special mass or something, but it turned out to just be a tiny part of the normal mass where the priest read off a list of about 10 names of deceased people and prayed for them. It took maybe a minute or two total. And from things this friend has said since then, it sounds like he does this all the time (putting in my late husband’s name to be read out during Sunday mass). It’s not a special event for him.I’m sure it was disappointing when I wouldn’t go up for a blessing or try to sing the hymns or otherwise participate. And even more upsetting when a few weeks later I reminded him that I didn’t want to participate in his religion and asked him to please respect that.But did being told flat-out to leave me alone about religion stop him? Of course not. He continued, and I once again indicated that his attempts to force religion on me were unwelcome. His response?“Except that good and evil are realities that cannot be ignored, even if we're free to choose how we deal with them. We live in a world where we battle heartache and loss -- you can testify to that as well as anyone -- and we're here to support one another, bound as we are by charity. Religion challenges us and it's presentation may feel forced and unwanted, but here's a question: Why would another "force" religion on another? What's in it for them? What if it's for the other's benefit?”I felt this was a clear statement of his intention to continue forcing religion on me (for my benefit, naturally). No matter how I felt about it. I also felt I was left with no “polite” options to get him to leave me alone, and honestly, that’s a pretty creepy feeling no matter what the person might intend. When people tell you no and you won’t stop, you force them to think outside the box, and you might not like what they come up with.So…I called his parish office and had a short and polite conversation with what sounded like a quintessential little old church lady, who kept making soft little startled-sounding “Oh”s as I told her my problem. I asked that she have the priest talk to this person about his aggressive proselytizing and get him to stop.Then I sent him a letter in the mail stating that I didn’t want any further contact at all and to leave me alone. That was a few days ago, and I sincerely hope this is all coming to an end after such a long time. He could have acted as a real friend to me in our shared grief, but instead he chose to use my grief as a tool to try to manipulate my emotions and further his agenda. Fuck him.

There is not a good program for keeping track of people, their status as parishioners, sacraments received, and personal information such as address, e-mail, and phone number. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few software packages for sale or lease (monthly user fee) that are okay. But for the most part, they are difficult to use and don’t integrate well with the needs of a given parish office.As a pastor here was my administrative dream…A program that would keep track of all of the above that was simple to use. All you need to do was type in a person’s name and all of their information would come up. If you wanted to run a specific report (list of parishioners who are fully intimated), one or two clicks and boom, you get the report.Something tells me that if a software developer were to come up with such a program, or even a cemetery program, they would make a fortune.One can dream.

Cache of weapons found at home of dead man, 51, in Yorkshire:Officers stunned when woman drops off $40,000 WWII German rifle to be destroyed in police buy-back schemeAt the end of each of the world wars, many soldiers returned home with pistols. Some were sold, most were kept in a bedside drawer and when the owner died, they ended up in the attic. Gun amnesties have been held in which many were handed in to the police for destruction, however, some remain and of these, some fall into criminal hands.Illegal importation: some are sent from sellers in other countries; most, I would guess, are purchased in Europe and are brought into the UK by car (ferry/Chunnel), some by post. (Experienced sellers know how to hide a pistol in a postal package.)Strict laws but illegal guns flood inDespite Germany's strict gun laws there are 20 million illegal weaponsMail order guns? British gangsters buying illegal weapons from USThough illicit drugs tend to enter the UK via different means, I imagine weapons may at times be sent with them.When I was at school, the IRA was running a campaign to rob school cadet armouries. Ours was therefore new, strong and raised so that a vehicle could not ram the doors. Others were less secure.Licenced firearms are stored securely and checked by the police, and I don’t know of cases where they have been burgled, though I supposed that must happen at times.Above: Police-approved gun cabinet.It is still possible to get a firearm licence, and some collectors have quite a few; many farmers have shotguns.Above: a “driven” shoot.Target shooting and hunting are popular sports. Gun clubs have armouries. Some of these leak into the underworld and some legal owners are also criminal.Police find hundreds of guns - including rocket launcher - at home of parish council chairman