Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

4 THE PASSIONATE STEWARD
been gathered, and other technical matters in this vein. I can only say
that I have tried to use responsible sources for statistical data.
However, there are few organizations that gather such data
pertaining to philanthropy, especially religious philanthropy.
The head of a research department for a leading national
“think tank” on philanthropy described the collection of
philanthropic data as akin to sausage making: “…you never know
what goes in and once it’s wrapped you don’t want to ask.” I do not
think things to be all that bad, but there are certain concerns I and
others share about the reliability of what data is generally available.
While I reserve my concerns about the specific reliability of certain
figures, I have generally found that the institutions which collect the
type of data I have cited in this book uniformly agree about the
basic trends I have sought to elucidate.
And finally, a note about points of sensitivity. Throughout the
text I have chosen to use the designation C.E. (Common Era) for
historic dating. This was done in deference to our Orthodox, Oriental
and Eastern Rite brothers and sisters who keep different calendars, as
well as our elder brothers and sisters in faith, the Jewish People, whose
calendar was not fixed until 359 C.E. by Sanhedrin president Hillel II.
The selection of typeface and an atypically large font size in
this edition were carefully chosen. Having myself labored under the
generally poor lighting condition in churches, the publisher and I
have made our best efforts to provide greater accessibility and ease
of reading for all people.