Giving Money to your church - do you? Why or why not?

[Earlybird]

Do you think we have a biblical and/or moral obligation to tithe, and if so, why do you think so? How do you decide how much to tithe?

If you don't tithe, do you give significantly to your church in other forms (time, talent, etc)?

I've been thinking about people who give to churches, and why some do (even if it causes strain to their budgets and schedules) and others don't (or give only a fraction of what they could manage).

[mercibucket]

I 100 percent believe the whole 'prosperity bible' teachings some of you allude to, to be evil in origin and involve judicious 'use' of the word of the bible with no interest in the meaning
Please google it - there are a lot of well-written articles, much better than I could manage, that demolish the idea that you give to receive. That is not a Christian approach.
I am of course not saying anyone who believs this is evil. I'm saying we are being tempted towards money and away from christian belief.

Anyway, back to titheing. No, we don't. We give to charities but just give time to church

[stressedHEmum]

Oh, I really, really hate the whole prosperity gospel thing. I too think that it is evil and that the idea doesn't come from God. We don't give to receive, we give to give back to God what is His in the first place, to help the work of the Kingdom and as an expression of faith and gratefulness.

I saw a programme once where the "pastor" was asking for a "seed" of $52. He basically promised that anyone who sent him the money would get a fortune in return and have all their money worries solved by God. it made me so very angry.

HellsBells, my husband is an atheist and gets absolutely raging about me giving money and time to the church (even the £1 coins I give to the kids for SS collection). He refers to it as a tax on us when we are already poor. He doesn't know how much money I give and I am actually ashamed of that because it feels deceitful.

[Solola]

Very interested to read this thread on tithing.

Do people who give the 10% believe that this should all be given to the church you are a member of, and any giving to charities on top of that?

We have always given approx 10% of our income as a 'tithe' but split it between the church we are members of and to other charities too.

To be honest I get much more excited about giving to overseas charities as I know from experience our small gift can go so much further and make more of a difference overseas.

[DutchOma]

Part of the money the members of the church give is given to both inland and overseas ministries. Not sure quite how big a percentage, it is worked out by the Baptist Union. It is up to every member how much to give, we have found it a blessing to give 10%, not as a way of 'getting blessings back'; I don't know how it works, but it certainly works for us: we have never been short of anything we really needed and still been able to support people on top of the tithe. God is very good and we have been blessed.

[SlightlySuperiorPeasant]

Solola DH and I both see charitable giving as something you do on top of the 10% because that 10% doesn't really belong to us so it would be being generous with someone else's money IYSWIM. The church uses that 10% for all sorts of things, including a very well oiled humanitarian aid programme, but it's good to give to causes you support on top of that if you can afford to.

[OsmiumPhazer]

I tithe at my CofE church £20 monthly DD as well as £5 each time I visit with my son. I want to keep my church going and this is the amount I thought reasonable and affordable to my family and I right no

[Vespula]

My elderly mother just had a letter like this, quoting some stuff from the bible then "suggesting" she should give them 5% of her income. I was so disgusted at this appalling attempt to fleece old ladies by trying to induce some kind of moralistic guilt that I tore it up, but it seems they are following up by sending someone round to talk to her and presumably make sure she signs on the dotted line. This, in my view, puts the church on the same footing - or worse - as bankers mis-selling financial products. At least bankers aren't implying that their clients will be eternally judged if they fail to comply!