Chapter 34: All Saints

Contains spoilers

Summary

  • The bishop is assigned to All Saints, a boys' home in Iowa, in 1933 and is tasked with instilling discipline and securing funding.
  • By 1937, the bishop struggles with the facilities, poor conditions, and finding a stable endowment for the problematic boys' home.
  • Rich potential donors do not see value in funding scholarships, chairs, or memorials at All Saints due to its nature and population.
  • The boys at All Saints are difficult to manage, especially one named Calvin Evans, who is seen as the most troublesome.
  • The bishop is contacted frequently by a minister from California inquiring about Calvin Evans, but he dismisses the inquiries.
  • A man named Wilson from the Parker Foundation visits, looking for Calvin Evans to reunite him with living relatives.
  • The bishop, disappointed not to receive a donation from Wilson, lies, telling him Calvin Evans is dead.
  • Wilson decides to endow the Calvin Evans Memorial Fund, not realizing Calvin isn't dead, providing much-needed funds to All Saints.
  • Reverend Wakely, attempting to prove not everyone lies to a girl named Madeline, pretends to offer a donation to All Saints to elicit information.
  • The bishop lies to Wakely about Calvin Evans, claiming a relationship with a memorial fund that doesn't exist for the purposes it was created for.
  • Wakely discovers the Parker Foundation funded a "memorial" for Calvin Evans for years before he was actually dead, raising questions about the foundation's intentions.
  • Madeline is skeptical about the story since the timings don't align with her father's (Calvin Evans) real death.
  • Wakely provides an address for Mr. Wilson of the Parker Foundation, although it's only a P.O. box, indicating it may be hard to contact him directly.
  • Madeline shows faith in finding Wilson, despite the odds, distinguishing between the concept of faith and its association with religion.
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