tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7002745.post6941383056187844679..comments2023-06-08T11:21:10.878-04:00Comments on EPISTLES FROM THE SCRIPTORIUM: NEW DIOCESAN FUNERAL POLICYBrian Michael Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836644567939527991noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7002745.post-41678692298474514262007-06-01T16:24:00.000-04:002007-06-01T16:24:00.000-04:00Charles, No I'm not going to DC. Baby is due to ar...Charles, <BR/><BR/>No I'm not going to DC. Baby is due to arrive in about 4 weeks. Will be going to Tucson in January for the AGO regional.<BR/><BR/>Next year.<BR/><BR/>~nbPhiMuAlpha2681https://www.blogger.com/profile/08883388434817321459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7002745.post-10250109120117204922007-06-01T16:21:00.000-04:002007-06-01T16:21:00.000-04:00Basically, Charles, the parish would have to repor...Basically, Charles, the parish would have to report my funeral earnings instead of the undertaker. There is a beauty to that too - in my case, a W2 from the parish as opposed to a 1099 from the undertaker. What the bishop really intended here, however, is the authoritative issue - that misconception that the undertaker owns you.<BR/><BR/>I'm thinking kinda like a Pep Boys type deal with the bearded snarks promo. You ever see those guys? The one on the very right looks a lot like Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI).<BR/><BR/>BMPBrian Michael Pagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09836644567939527991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7002745.post-84933867017127674782007-06-01T15:49:00.000-04:002007-06-01T15:49:00.000-04:00I have a beard.... but I fail the Snark test simpl...I have a beard.... but I fail the Snark test simply by being from CA!<BR/>But I shall wreak my vengeance and havoc soon in DC! Nick, you're going, I know. Jason, BMP????<BR/>BTW, Jason, your new pic proffers a more Acadian visage, like a brunette version of the actor Will Patton. Very nice.<BR/>I suspect from Brian's last comment the real prime mover in this move was the IRS. It's amazing how large regulatory agencies that have the authority, ability and muscle to garner revenue legally just to further their own existences, stumble upon these little anomalies like funeral stipends (which way did dey go, which way did dey go?) and put the hammer down on those quaint, quiet customs.<BR/>When really not having ANYTHING to think about, I sometimes wonder if there are snoops from the Library of Congress, or OCP, or Blockbusters out and about? Or do they just invent new ways and means to make us buy the same things four or five times over again, and then adverstise the crap outta such stuff. I mean, has anyone considered that Steve Jobs could be the Antichrist!<BR/>Aunt Nellies are the lucky ones!Mr. Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7002745.post-56401265983777134982007-06-01T11:58:00.000-04:002007-06-01T11:58:00.000-04:00Weddings don't get hit in the new policy yet. I s...Weddings don't get hit in the new policy yet. I still collect from the couple. Here's the letter that the pastors got from the chancellor (which was forwarded to me):<BR/><BR/><I>"I write to inform you that after consultation with the Council of Priests, the Most Reverend Thomas J. Tobin has indicated a change in policy for the compensation of musicians/soloists on the occasion of a Church funeral.<BR/>This policy clarifies that the parish, not the funeral home, is the agent for services provided by the musician/soloist. The funeral directors will be instructed to forward the offering and musician fee to the parish. The parish, as the agent, will compensate the musician/soloist in keeping with the IRS and the State of Rhode Island reporting regulations. The Rhode Island Funeral Directors Association has been informed of this policy, which goes into effect on July 1, 2007. This will also be included in the new Book of Faculties for Priests and Deacons.<BR/>The change is to prevent any misunderstanding or perception that, since the funeral home or the family secured the services of the musician/soloist, someone other than the pastor can now approve of the music selected for a Church funeral. This clarifies the rights and obligations of both the parish and the funeral home."</I><BR/><BR/>BTW - now that Jason finally has a pic in his Blogger profile, we should take all three of the pics and caption it "The three bearded snarks". hehehe<BR/><BR/>BMPBrian Michael Pagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09836644567939527991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7002745.post-39950925070354480682007-06-01T09:28:00.000-04:002007-06-01T09:28:00.000-04:00This is also good in regards to the selection of s...This is also good in regards to the selection of singers for funerals. Our two funeral homes in Lafayette like to upstage the church singers by sending their own crooners. If they paid the church like this, I could get my own singers and make life a whole lot easier than having to wait for the singer(s) to make a mad dash into the church 2 minutes before aunt Nellie come's rollin' down the aisle and to touch base with the singers about what it is that's on the playlist, make my beef, cut Beagles' Screams, find alternative sacred music, all in time for the crucifix to turn around in the narthex and the procession to begin.....<BR/><BR/>JPJason Penningtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14531010709396601925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7002745.post-50185192002878780192007-06-01T08:51:00.000-04:002007-06-01T08:51:00.000-04:00This is what we do for weddings, although it goes ...This is what we do for weddings, although it goes through the Rectory checking account, not the general ledger, so I don't have to wait until the next payday to get my wedding stipends.<BR/><BR/>~nbPhiMuAlpha2681https://www.blogger.com/profile/08883388434817321459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7002745.post-44738234803439992952007-06-01T08:31:00.000-04:002007-06-01T08:31:00.000-04:00I like that new policy. I have one funeral home th...I like that new policy. I have one funeral home that I have to chase down on a regular basis.<BR/><BR/>That same funeral home sounds like the one you mentioned in Woonsocket. Until my parish instituted a bench fee, they would bring in their own organist and soloist for every funeral. They also tried changing the fee scale. They also came up with some of the weirdest requests I have ever recieved...and it turns out they came from the undertaker, not the family.DominiSumushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02219325748138519802noreply@blogger.com