Bishop's Pence

In Depression-ridden 1933, the late Rt. Rev. George Craig Stewart, Episcopal Bishop of Chicago, cast about for a way to raise money from church members who were growing increasingly worried about raising money for themselves. He asked them to put a small container on the family table and put in a penny after grace at each meal. Through war and good times, the 6-in. cans stayed on the tables, and last week Chicago's Episcopal piggy bank hit the million-dollar mark.

The 14,000 containers are collected five times a year; the diocese returns 45% of the money to the parish, keeps 45% for the bishop's "Discretionary Fund.'' and uses 10% for administering the fund. The bishop's share, now about $30,000 a year, is used for emergencies, such as helping rebuild St. Paul's Church in Chicago's South Side when it was destroyed by arsonists. The parish share is used for church-building improvement, the altar guild, etc. Pennies are clinking in faster than ever these days. While the first million took 27 years to collect, at the current rate it should take about 14 years to raise the second million.

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