REPORT COPYRIGHT VIOLATION IN REPLY
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Message Subject
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Rockefellers
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Poster Handle
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CHRIST |
Post Content
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DID ROCKEFELLER SWINDLE HIS CHURCH?
YOU BE THE JUDGE:
ONE OF THE EARLIEST EPISODES. ROCKEFELLER WAS NO MORE THAN
20 YEARS OLD. ROCKEFELLER HAD HELPED HIS MOTHER WITH
BOOKEEPING, WENT TO A COMMERCIAL SCHOOL AND STUDIED
BOOKEEPING, AND WAS HIRED IN HIS FIRST JOB AS A BOOKEEPER
BY 'HEWITT AND TUTTLE' COMMODITY TRADERS IN CLEVELAND.
'WHEN HEWITT AND TUTTLE ASSIGNED ROCKEFELLER TO PAY THE
BILLS, HE WENT AT THIS TASK WITH AN UNDISGUISED ZEAL, A
PRECOCIOUS VIRTUOSITY, AND "ATTENDED [TO IT] WITH
MORE RESPONSIBILITY THAN THE SPENDING OF MY OWN FUNDS"
HE CLOSELY REVIEWED THE BILLS, CONFIMING THE VALIDITY
OF EACH ITEM AND CAREFULLY ADDING UP THE TOTALS. HE
POUNCED ON ERRORS OF EVEN A FEW CENTS AND REACTED WITH
SCORNFUL AMAZEMENT WHEN THE BOSS NEXT DOOR HANDED HIS
CLERK A LENGTHY, UNEXAMINED PLUMBING BILL AND BLITHELY
SAID "PLEASE PAY THIS BILL". ROCKEFELLER WAS APPALED BY
SUCH CAVALIER INDIFFERENCE, HAVING JUST CAUGHT THE SAME
FIRM IN AN OVERCHARGE OF SEVERAL CENTS."
JOHN JOINS THE CHURCH.
"IN THE FALL OF 1854, AFTER MAKING A PERSONAL CONFESSION
OF FAITH, JOHN WAS IMMERSED IN THE BAPTISMAL BASIN BY
DEACON SKED AND BEFCAME A CHURCH MEMBER (IN THE ERIE
STREET BAPTIST MISSION CHURCH, ORGANIZED BY THE FIRST
BAPTIST CHURCH)."
"INSTEAD OF MERELY ATTENDING SERVICES, ROCKEFELLER PERFORMED
NUMBERLESS TASKS IN THE CHURCH. WHILE STILL IN HIS TEENS,
HE BECAME A SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER, A TRUSTEE, AND AN UNPAID
CLERK WHO KEPT THE BOARD MINUTES IN HIS OWN HAND."
"WHILE ROCKEFELLER'S RELIGIOUS FAITH RAN STRONG, HE WAS
MOST INVOLVED IN THE TEMPORAL AFFAIRS OF THE CHURCH, WHICH
HE THOUGHT SHOULD BE RUN LIKE A TIDY BUSINESS."
"HE SOON HAD A CHANCE TO DEFEND THE CHURCH'S SOLVENCY WHEN
IT FELL BEHIND ON INTEREST PAYMENTS ON A $2,000 MORTGAGE
HELD BY A DEACON. ONE SUNDAY THE PASTOR ANNOUNCED FROM
THE PULPIT THAT THIS CREDITOR THREATENED TO FORECLOSE ON
THE CHURCH AND THAT THEY HAD TO RAISE $2,000 VERY FAST
TO SURVIVE. AS THE STUNNED CONGREGATION FILED OUT, THEY
FOUND ROCKEFELLER STATIONED AT THE DOOR, BUTTONHOLING
PEOPLE AND ASKING THEM TO PLEDGE SPECIFIC AMOUNTS"
QUESTION: HOW COULD THE CHURCH FALL BEHIND IN ITS PAYMENTS,
DURING ROCKEFELLER'S TENURE?
CHRIST
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