Is it normal to give so much money to charity?

[Vegetablespringrolls]

As a church we are wealthy because we have very few outgoings. But any outreach or activities have to be done on a tiny budget because we give most of it to charities. We have 5 teenage boys who come to every event we put on and I would love to do something really good like employ a proper youth leader and take them out on trips like I remember doing with the church growing up but I'm always met with expressions of horror. Meanwhile I have to sit in meetings where the charities show us a PowerPoint presentation of the amazing stuff they are doing that we can't afford to do.

Erm no. I would think you would tithe 10% of income to charity and use the rest for church stuff. Thats what the bible says?

That just sounds crazy OP. You could run your own equally worthwhile projects with that money instead of giving it away.

What denomination of church is it and how is it governed? Sounds like a strange way to do church.

This.

I thought that the 10% tithe legally had ended with the New Testament but Christians can still follow that if they wanted.

With the woman who gave two coins all that she had, the moral of the story it seems to be about giving what you can from your heart and what you can afford.
Jesus said we should put him first in what we do, when he said we should follow him and not worry. He didn’t though put a number on how much we have to donate.

Me myself, I give what I can afford and anonymously online via donation to my church. I like that it is private and online straight into the banking system.

I suggest giving what you can afford from your heart and raising your family and planning your life according to the manner that you want to as a family.

You are right @Justmerach it isnt a rule, just something a lot of people use as guidance but it very much should be individual choice. I see it as a way of worshiping God by thanking him for his provision for me and my family by giving him back some of what he gives to us.

Lots of churches use it as a way to work out how much to gift on to charities and how much to use for the church though and i think if the balance is a long way off this then there definitely should be some justification to why the church isnt spending on itself.

Tithing was an old testament principle. That doesn't mean it shouldn't continue into the new testament, it just means we are not under the law. I have known many people who feel that given the blessings we have in Jesus the tithe should be a minimum!

Obviously it is up to each of us to give as we wish but it was a good guideline for thousands of years.

Also I think as humans we are always tempted to think we can afford to give less than we actually can afford. I've tithed ASA rough guideline all my Christian life. When I was a poor student that was a smaller amount, and when I did a voluntary job for a year it was even less. I can honestly say I have never gone without and was always amazed at how much God looked after me.

'Mission' doesn't just have to be overseas. It can be within your own community, and therefore needs funding. We all have a mission and ministry in the community we live in, as well as helping those overseas. In some respects it's easy to give money to charity and then let other people get on with the work whilst feeling good about ourselves that we gave the money. It's harder to actually put in the hard graft and forge relationships with those under our own noses (or across the road from us), and then potentially be disrupted when people come to church, ask questions, want discipleship, and so on.

To be fair @Catinabeanbag nobody has mentioned overseas mission, I don't think. Unconscious bias? The charities could all be local for all we know.

Thank you. The church is technically independent brethren but I think it's more baptist really. The congregation is a mix of different people, a combination of brethren, baptist and c of e. There are 2 elders but they also seek and give advice with the elders at a few other nearby churches.

Charities are a mixture of English and overseas. Only one is local to us though.

As a family we give a bit more than 10% of our income. I'm not sure exactly what percentage the church gives away to charity but we keep some money in the account for emergencies. We pay for the gas/electric and whatever is left goes to the charities. If, for example, a big purchase comes up like we need to replace the floor in the church or buy new chairs then the charities will get less that year. The church tries to save money by being very frugal so the charities get more money. Things like not putting the heating on until it gets really freezing and people are wearing coats and gloves.

So was this just the first of three threads about your church and finances?

This is the same church?! OP- it sounds as though you know this is all wrong and you need to find another church.

You pay according to your conviction and your means. That means you are 'right' with the Lord. What the organisations do with the charitable giving is between them (the overseers, trustees, elders) and the Lord . If it is that you just do not agree with their decisions and what they are doing is not illegal, then the best move is to change churches or simply, change your charity.

There will always be people in church who grumble that things are not done to their satisfaction or according to their opinion. The Acts model of church is that we leave our human grumbles with the Lord in prayer and trust that the church leadership are acting with integrity and honour.