How much to give every week at Church?

[GloGirl]

Just curious. I realise what I grew up with was not the norm from a different thread, where my Mum and I were poor and paid up to £1 between us.

I'm about to set up a standing order with the Church and wondering what to do. DH thinks £20 a month my heart says £40.

We are a family of 5 that are starting to attend Catholic church.

[Asuitablemum]

Oh dear. I thought most people just dropped in a fiver

[Madhairday]

We give via standing order too, over church and various charities. The church also gives to charities and local community needs too.

I've found tithing to be an incredible experience, and don't ever miss that 10%. We don't have much disposable income but always enough. It is hard to say how much someone should give, but it is my experience that giving sacrificially does bring blessing in many ways.

But it's important that you agree with one another and perhaps a compromise is a good idea.

I don't think it's a form of control. There is no force in it and no requirement for membership as in some cults. It is completely up to the individual.

[ImperialBlether]

I don't think God actually said it should be 10%, did she?

[wobblywonderwoman]

I think a fiver a week is more than plenty so go for 20 but 25 if you want to go that bit more.
We get a leaflet with recommendations based on income (catholic) but I don't follow that.

[vdbfamily]

We have struggled making a decision on this as some of what we paying in taxes is to help the less well off with benefits etc so I take net income and then work out what a tenth would be and then roughly remove what we are giving already (sponsoring 2 African children through school, giving to a charity I once worked for, giving to a charity I once volunteered for, giving to needy friends, other charity giving) and that gives us a figure to give monthly. I think we need to take a bit of responsibility as to what we use our money for and I do not want to hand that all over to the church as some of our charities are close to our heart but not to our church.
My dad always said to us as kids that all the wealth we have belongs to God and when we give it away it becomes ours. That is a bit pofound but I sort of get it as it is a great blessing to give money to others in need. One of my favourite things is just to put cash anonomously in an envelope and post it through the door of someone in crisis. They should not know or feel indebted but just feel blessed. Our right hand should not know what our left hand is doing when it comes to giving.

[BoaConstrictor]

I think the 10% tithe thing is a bit misleading as that was before taxes and the welfare system were introduced. If 40% of my income is already being used to help the poor, needy and the "community" (transport, bins etc) then I am not sure that another 10% is required. I don't attend church these days so it is more of a theoretical question for me although not entirely as, when I was reviewing my charitable donations recently, I was wondering what amount I should donate. I ended up at about 5% as regular DD and then there are ad hoc donations during the year, food bank shops plus the occasional bail out to friends & family.

[GloGirl]

So interesting there are a few people paying tithes on here. DH would both agree if we gave 10% of our earnings away it wouldn't all go to the Church.

We've agree on £30 a month and will gift aid it and hope it is not thought of too meanly!

Love that this has been a more popular threadvthan I thought it would. Very difficult to talk about in real life.

For me £5 in the collection plate seems soo rich. It's because my memories of church are from 20 years ago I have not mentally caught up.

[sparechange]

The Catholic Church is worth somewhere in the region of £10billion. The interest alone on their investments runs into hundreds of millions a year. More than enough to cover new church roofs and priests' pensions.
The Church of England is worth several billion pounds.

They have accumulated this vast,vast wealth by guilt tripping their congregations into spending more they can afford in order to feel devout. It plumps up their coffers and allows them to invest in very dodgy companies (let's not forget the CofE backing of Wonga or Catholic nazi gold...)

Meanwhile, wonderful charities doing the sort of work the church used to (looming after the dispossessed and destitute) are scraping by on tiny budgets and having to limit the good deeds they can do.

Have some sense and give your money to organisations that will use it for good, rather than to pad out already bursting bank accounts

[ReallyTired]

If you can't give financially then give in time. For example helping to clean the church as part of a working party, running Sunday school, making the teas and coffee. Your labour is a contribution.

[Trashbox]

If you can afford £30 per month, then you should give it to a charity that really needs it... Street kids in Brazil, Traficking in Cambodia... There are much worthier causes, really.

[ReallyTired]

Quite a bit of Church of England money is given to charities.

[Toddlerteaplease]

How about £15 to the church and £15 to the diocese's sick and retired priest fund?

[GloGirl]

Trashbox, I feel if I go to Church it's only fair to pay for thr privilege. Churches are expensive to maintain and important to pay into a diminishing pot.

I did find the point about paying taxes very interesting, as the government are doing work the Church used to do. Made me feel better about not paying a tithe.

[littlejeopardy]

Glad you've decided on an amount GloGirl. I think it is a good practice to think about it and give an intentional amount rather than scrambling for change each week. (been there!)

I hadn't considered before that taxes serve some of the same function as a tithe before. Its a good point. Suddenly feel rather grateful for our tax system, it's easy to forget that our taxes do help (however, imperfectly) people in need.

[Lessstressedhemum]

God didn't prescribe 10%, no, but Jacob pledged 10% of all he had to God, and churches that tithe use this as their guide.
Giving is between you and God, but it should be sacrificoal, just like the widow's mite.

[niminypiminy]

It's the other day at round, isn't it? The church does lots of things the government should be doing. Food banks, school holiday free lunches for kids on free school meals, taking in refugees, shelters for the homeless, credit unions ... I've only listed a few of the things that I know churches are doing. And they do it with the money we donate.

Churches are often asset rich but cash poor. The Church of England owns three quarters of all grade 1 listed buildings in this country - it has to maintain them and it can't sell them. It can't realise those assets. On the other hand most of its revenue - the money that keeps it going on a daily basis, pays clergy, and funds all the activities I listed above and much more, comes from people in the pews. That Carol service you pop into at Christmas doesn't come for free - the maintenance on the church, the heating and lighting all have to be paid for; the stipend of the vicar, the organists salary, the hymn books or service sheets, the mince pies afterwards - all of them have a cost. And they're funded by ordinary people in the pews making donations.

And then you get into the way many churches raise money for Christian aid or Tearfund - my church has a different charity we raise money for each month in addition to what we ask people to give for the church. And the other things the church does that are practically invisible unless you come into contact with them - street pastors, or visits to people who've been bereaved, or services into care homes, or giving food and clothes to people who turn up in need.

[SookieandEric]

I wouldn't be giving fuck all to a rich institution that thrives on claims of moral superiority whilst hiding decades of child sexual abuse.

[SookieandEric]

And to the poster who said they give money and leave themselves unable to afford a family holiday....my mind is blown.

You're going to be gutted when you die. Or not. Because there won't be anything!

[ReallyTired]

The church of england owns lots of property that they rent out and has loads of investments. They aren't struggling that much financially.

Some parishes are better at ultilising their assets than others. For example renting out the church all or even the church itself for community activities. These activites don't just raise money to maintain the church, but make it a living community hub.

Some churches are crippled by their antique nature. Non church goers protest at the idea of ripping out victorian pews, but will not pay towards the up keep.

[ayeokthen]

Sookie, why bother coming on to a thread if you're just going to be nasty. That blows my mind, deliberately just throwing nastiness at people.

[SookieandEric]

It's an open thread. Op didn't only invite opinion from believers.

She asked how much, I responded.

[cingolimama]

I'm CofE. As other posters have pointed out, the church may be asset rich, but cash poor. Do you have any idea what their pension bill is?

I attend a church in London. It's a Grade 1 listed medieval building. We get no money from the "Church i.e. the CofE hq" (except to pay our priest), or from government. We must maintain the vast crumbling building ourselves. And pay for the music and the community outreach. Sadly, it doesn't run on air.

[sparechange]

The Church of England isn't 'asset rich, cash poor'
The vast majority of its investments are in very liquid asset classes such as stocks and shares. It doesn't take any sort of deep research to get a clear breakdown.
this is the first hit on Google

The justification of all the investments in morally-dubious companies is that those are the ones that give the highest returns which mean they stay on top of their pension obligations. To say that and then expect parishioners to buy themselves on the breadline as well - well that's morally reprehensible.

So much of the work formally done by churches is now done by charities. Surely the logical thing would be supporting organisations looking after orphans, neglected children, the homeless and destitute etc

How can you find it acceptable to give money to a hugely wealthy organisation while these charities are so underfunded?

[Dozer]

The economics of large religious institutions is really interesting.

[cingolimama]

Spare, one can give money to a church and to charities - they aren't mutually exclusive.

But as I like to attend church, I feel I should contribute to it. I find that acceptable.