Do you believe it’s your duty to give a tenth of your income to god/charity

[Lardlizard]

Or not partually a tenth but A certain amount ?

No. Charity begins at home. So my money goes to my family.

IIRC, there's something in Corinthians that says set aside some money you can afford each week. Which means that, if you can't afford it, you shouldn't donate - it's supposed to be a gift, not an obligation. There's some real ripping into religious leaders who took tithes but paid no heed to following the tenets of their religion earlier in the Bible as well.

IIalsoRC, Catholic catechism obliges supporting the material needs of the Church to each person's abilities, but never a fixed percentage - not even in giving money at all; somebody helping, so giving their time and effort is also fulfilling the expectation of support.

In short, any church or religious organisation pressuring people to give money that they can't afford and, more the point, don't give freely and happily, can do one. Because it ain't in their religious text unless somebody rewrote it when they realised they could make money out of this sort of thing

I give 50% of my income to a charity - my 'D'H who hasn't worked properly for the last 30 years. Because of this I give a further 30% of my income to a housing association. An 'exempt charity' though was a registered charity when I paid rent for 25 years which, given different circumstances, would have bought me a house.

All of the above is re net.

No - I don't agree with organised religion.

I have direct debits for some charities I support but that's because I choose to support their causes, not because I feel any sense of duty to do so.

I get so angry about church tithes. The number of churches who misuse money is horrific given what they expect their congregations to give. Taking people for mugs.

I put £5 or £10 in the church collection every time I go to church (approx twice a month) - it goes towards the upkeep of the building, which I am glad to contribute to as it serves a community and they run a weekly lunch club for the poor/ homeless etc,

I give quite a lot every year to Children with Cancer UK. But as my child has cancer I'm not sure that counts as entirely philanthropic.

I sponsor everyone who runs a marathon/ climbs a mountain between £30 and £50, depending on my bank balance on the day, regardless of charity.

I buy Choose Love stuff for refugees.

I give buskers/ people asking for money on the tube £1/ £2 depending on what change is in my purse. Sometimes more. (Sometimes none. Because sometimes I have no change.)

I buy sandwiches and drinks (ie tea) for homeless people.

I occasionally volunteer at our local foodbank.

I don't know what percentage of my income that comes to - I've never worked it out - I just know that I can afford to do it and, because I can afford it, I feel that I should. I wish I could do more.

Nope

I find myself strangely drawn to Minerva. How can I give her money, and what would she spend it on?

Nope. The church has enough money as it is. The vicarage in our village is huge and it's only the vicar and her husband who live there. If the dioceses is cash strapped they could sell that and get a 2 bedroomed house.

Yes. I do donation more than a tenth of my income. To be fair

I give to lots of charities.

We do. 45% min on at least £250k pa. Not really minded to give much else. Although I do cook and serve at a homeless charity, fund music tuition at a primary school and a place at ds's old school.

The stone is being bled dry. --one of those school.places went to a child dd went to school with at a "fab: cofe comp whose mother had an la flat, v comfy, lots of lovwly stuff and had never done a hand's turn outside the old USSR. It irks actually - it wouldn't have if the system meant she needed to work.

I think UK posters may have a different answer to this than those from American. I think we pay more tax in the UK than America and we have the NHS etc funded through NI (National Insurance) deductions. As a country lots of us do give to charity but it is nowhere near 10 percent of our income.

I give what I can afford and I'm happy to do so. My church is small and in an extremely deprived area but we manage to run a food bank, oap lunch club, homeless lunch club and a coach trip to the beach in the summer for local families with children etc

I'm interested in where people are getting evidence of churches misusing money and being very rich. It does happen, but from my experience of being in church, I say it is a rare occurrence at least in the UK.
As I understand it, Christian giving is not a duty but should be prompted by love of God and love of your neighbours. It is given freely and joyfully as part of a thanksgiving for all God is and means to you.
Giving 10%, a tithe, is an old testament principle. The new testament principle is to give proportionally to your income, so those on a low income may give less than 10% and those on a higher income more than that.
The amount I give to my church helps to pay the salaries of church employees and cover bills etc but also contributes to many activities that are run to support people in the local community and others abroad.
Some of you are right in a way saying how can you give to God? Everything I have has been given by him anyway, for my own use yes, but also for the benefit of others. Ideally I would seek to learn from God how and when and what he would like me to give as I pray and relate to him and he relates to me. In practice, I've got so much to learn about this and do it pretty badly!

EducatingArti - I wouldn’t give to a church as I don’t believe in god.

Yes, I do, it is a privilege and a joy to. We give to our small and not well off church, to some Christian charities in this country and abroad, all of which are known well to us and we understand where the money goes. Our church doesn't pressurise people to give, it is a free choice. Jesus has a lot to say about people being legalistic about these things, it doesn't make you a better person. 'The church has lots of money' doesn't mean all churches do, many are small and do not squander it but are very careful and efficient. Having worked and volunteered in charities, direct debits are very helpful as it enables them to plan. Each to their own.

I'm interested in where people are getting evidence of churches misusing money and being very rich

I'm wondering this too- if people arent religious, dont attend church, and dont give any money how on earth would they know exactly what every church does with its money? The churches where I live provide support for homeless people to sleep and get food etc- they certainly arent using the money for gold candlesticks and diamond encrusted communion cups

I agree with EducatingArti above. I give 5% to my church and 5% to charity separately, even though my income is relatively low. I give out of gratitude to God and He honours that by ensuring I and my children always have enough.

Even without any spiritual motivation, I think there is rarely an excuse for not helping others if you are fortunate enough to have a roof over your head and food on your table. We in the West are so incredibly privileged financially, yet so selfish.

I'm interested in where people are getting evidence of churches misusing money and being very rich

Every church I've been part of does this. It's not about gold candlesticks as mentioned below but misuse.

Things like creating job posts for the girlfriend of the worship leader so she could move there - unnecessary job that they have to spend £25k a year on. Think how many donations that is and this was a church with a massive food bank for the homeless. That money could have gone to much better use.

Oh and I'm in the U.K. for the pp wondering

No.

But I choose freely to give to charity and to community causes and to friends and family if needed.

I find myself strangely drawn to Minerva. How can I give her money, and what would she spend it on?

I don't know but presumably she'd spend it wisely.

We give to a few charities - ones we're sure aren't spending it on fancy buildings.

Certainly wouldn't give to any religion - they get too many concessions from the tax payer already, and while some may do some good, a lot of them do a lot of harm too. And we don't do gift aid because I'd rather tax went to fund schools, the NHS, social services etc. (Some people seem to have a weird idea that gift aid is magic free money)

@forrandomposts
It is very sad that you have experienced that as I still think it is rare. How many churches have you belonged to? Have you found a church you do feel happy attending and that does manage money well?

No, I'm atheist. I give regularly to a charity and gift aid it, but no where near 10%.

Very well said @Babdoc

I never understand why posters are allowed to be so offensive about Christianity on MN

I don't give 10%. I do give regularly to my Church (and Gift Aid) as it is the money that is needed to maintain the building, to employ staff (Presbytrs and others), to provide training - both for new ministers, new Chaplains, Worship Leaders etc., but also for things like safeguarding courses. For resources - published and website, etc etc etc. I've always seen it a similar to paying 'subs' at anything I, or my dc belong to - obviously there are running costs.

Separately from that I have various standing orders and direct debits to support various charities, which I don't see as being particularly a Christina thing.