Cohousing-L Mailing List: Should individual "sponsorship" be allowed of community

[Becky Schaller (bschaller]

I used to belong to a church which had a policy not to accept designated
gifts.  That simply meant that if you made a contribution, then you gave it
to the general church fund.   Then the church as a whole would decide how to
spend the money.  From my reading of the question in Protestant church
circles, churches generally raise significantly more money if they accept
designated gifts or what we are calling individual sponsorship of community
items.  But I understand that the reason a group would make a decision not
to accept large individual gifts is because that decision more closely
reflects the values of that group than to simply accept the gifts.
 
As Liz says, it's subtle.  But I also think when a group does make this kind
of decision, it's a very strong value statement about how they see
themselves and how they want to relate to each other.

I'm having trouble knowing how to write this without offending lots of
people.  But I do think not accepting large gifts does amount to a  choice
not to have as many material items as one might otherwise have.

I wish I could be clearer.  As I think back on the time when I was a member
of that particular church, I had a different sense of how we each fit in and
related to the church then I imagine I would in another church.  I imagine a
similar kind of difference would occur between two cohousing communities
coming to different answers on this question.  As inarticulate as I may be
on this subject, there is a part of me that longs to be a part of a
community like that again.

Becky Schaller
Sonora Cohousing
Tucson, Arizona


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