By David Bressoud
A little over a year ago, Rick Rinkoff—then in the twelfth year of his three-year term as St. John’s treasurer and on the lookout for anyone who could take over from him—asked me if my work with numbers included any numbers with dollar signs attached. I admitted that it had and soon found myself agreeing to shadow Rick for a year and then take on the job of treasurer. I will begin in February after our annual meeting.
I am a lifelong Episcopalian and a Mathematician by vocation. Trained in Number Theory and Combinatorics (properties of the integers and counting problems), I began my career as a research mathematician at Penn State. In the ‘90’s I came to Macalester College and embraced my passions: teaching, writing the textbooks I wish I had had, and working on a national level to improve mathematics education for all college students. After retiring from Mac in 2016, I took on the job of Director of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Science. This is an umbrella organization for the professional societies in the mathematical sciences, including those supporting K-12 teachers. It was a wonderful platform from which to work on the difficulties of student transitions from high school to college mathematics. It was there that I learned how to handle numbers with dollar signs.
I grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with parents who were heavily involved with the work of our parish, our diocese, and the national church. It was natural for me to continue that tradition. I met my wife, Jan, in 1983 at the Episcopal Center on the University of Minnesota campus when I was a visiting professor at the U and she was a returning adult student. For both of us, involvement with the church was a given. Jan had grown up at St. Paul’s-on-the-Hill. It is where we were married and where, after the move back to Minnesota, we were active until its dissolution. Jan was a firm believer that your parish church should be within walking distance, so we joined St. John’s in 2017 after moving to Western Avenue. We both fell in love with this parish and its people. Although we later moved to the Episcopal Church Home and then to Marvella on the site of the old Ford plant, we kept our membership here. Jan especially appreciated Father Craig and insisted that he be the celebrant at her funeral. She now rests in the columbarium behind the high altar.
Jan and I have always practiced tithing, referring to that 10% of our income as “God’s money”. Even when each of us was living on very little, it was important to maintain that practice. Of course, not all was given to the church. It has been an enjoyable ritual to decide each year where it is to be donated. Our experience has given me an appreciation for the sacrifices that are often made in support of the church. Responsible managing of those gifts is a task that I take very seriously.
As I have worked with Rick over this past year, I have been surprised and a bit overwhelmed by the complexity of our finances. Fortunately, I can rely on Sarah Dull and Rick to guide me through their intricacies in the coming years.
I do need to warn everyone that my treasurer reports will not be as entertaining as Rick’s. Jan has cautioned me on more than one occasion not to try to be funny. I am constitutionally incapable of pulling it off. However, I do promise to explain your church’s finances as clearly as a Mathematician can.