Church of England rector hands out 10-pound notes to parishioners to invest

And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. John 2:16

A clergyman whose name I don't recall has referred to the Church of England as "the natural spiritual home of the Queen and Mr. Bean." Submitted for your approval as evidence is this article by Tom Whitehead of the London Daily Telegraph on November 19, 2012, as published by the Canadian newspaper National Post:

A U.K. rector has handed out 10-pound notes to his parishioners in the hope that they can turn them into a fortune.

The Rev. Richard Steele has challenged his congregation to invest the cash wisely to help boost funds for repairs to Kirkheaton parish church in West Yorkshire.

The church needs 73,000 pounds, and the Rev. Steel hopes the 450 pounds he has handed out will return a profit.

He said he hoped his congregation would not use the money to gamble on horses or lottery tickets but hinted that he would accept any winnings.

“I rather think that it is not the kind of thing my people would do but I have not laid down any rules,” he said.

“It would be an interesting ethical debate that would have to be had if they did win.”

The Rev. Steel took the idea from the Parable of the Talents in the Bible, in which three servants are given the task of investing their master’s money.

He said: “Not everyone in the church has money to give so I thought I’d offer them some ‘seed capital’ to invest—maybe in baking cakes for sale, buying a car-washing kit, material to make cards or a woolly hat to keep warm when offering a dog-walking service. I’m not entirely sure what people will do but I’m looking
forward to hearing about all these great investments.”

For another article on the same subject, go here. The parable of the talents is found in Matthew 25:14-30.