Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

80 THE PASSIONATE STEWARD
who originally dedicated the windows to their loved ones, but it
acted to devalue the naming opportunity for the new “prospects”
from whom the Church tried to raise money. Several of the families
that did “purchase” windows as a new naming opportunity for their
loved ones actually negotiated with the Parish Council, stating their
apprehension that if they were able to “buy” windows that had
previously been recognition items for other families, they had no
reason to believe that the Church would not remove their own name
in the future, thereby lowering the value of their gift. In the end,
several parishioners who had previously dedicated windows to
loved ones, and a number of their friends, left the parish; the
fundraising goal was not met; and the parish priest’s integrity was
so compromised that he felt he had no choice but to ask the bishop
for reassignment. The same has been true of “buy a brick” and other
programs. Eventually, physical recognition programs become
outdated by the need for renovations, expansion, demolition, or
other such changes and interventions.
A Study in Donor Recognition
Naming opportunities as part of fundraising schemes are not new,
and antiquity provides us a salutary example. In the fifth century C.E. a
man by the name of Lampadius funded the refurbishment of the
Amphitheatrum Flavium. We know this because he was recognized for
his gift by the placement of a stone plaque in an entranceway to the
Colosseum. Newly discovered physical evidence suggests that the very
stone which recognizes Lampadius’ gift was a mere four centuries
earlier a donor recognition plaque for the Emperor Vespasian, who
provided the money to renovate the Colosseum after Nero had
bankrupted the empire, and burned Rome itself. 34
Interesting ethical questions are raised by these examples of
34 Louis H. Feldman suggests that the Lampadian stone carving was previously
a donor recognition plaque thanking Vespasian for the funds used to renovate the
Colosseum. Feldman argues that the money for the renovation was provided