Monday, June 26, 2006

I was going to say "unbelievable"

So this morning, Scott forwarded an email to me, which he received from the DRE at my former parish. She asked Scott to come speak to their Confirmation class in the Fall, because their Youth Minister (who they replaced me with) had recently left. She gave a list of dates, and said "give my love to Margo".
This parish, which is a tiny spot on the North Shore of Boston, near where I live. I worked there for 9 years- at first part time, and then full time. I was one of the lowest-paid youth ministers in the RCAB, even after 7 full-time years. I completely changed their Confirmation programming to one that focused on mentoring. The new program, which I called Legacy of Faith, was (in my humble opinion) damn great, and we were starting the see the fruits after a full year of it. It was being recognized on the national level, and I was asked to write and speak about it for the NCEA.
But then I got a phone call from my pastor, telling me that the new finance committee had decided that they didn't think they could pay my salary anymore. My very, very LOW salary.
At my going-away party, I was presented with a letter opener from the staff and committee. It was engraved with my name, spelled wrong.
That Fall I returned for Confirmation, because I was sponsoring a candidate there. It was uncomfortable being there, and before the Mass the new YM asked me to stand up as a "special guest", and thanked me for being there. She then proceeded to tell the candidates that they had been given an "abbreviated" preparation for the Sacrament, and that she was sorry about that- and that next year, the kids would be going back to a 2-year preparation program so they would be getting much more. She was trashing my program, right in front of me!
Last week we heard the rumor that this YM had left, but no word as to why.
Then this morning, they wrote and sweetly asked my husband to come pitch in.

1 comment:

HerMajesty00 said...

No kidding Margo, I know about this dumpster...