How much do you donate to your church?

[IrritableBitchSyndrome]

So, apparently, our church would like 5% of our income. I want to use the money to overpay on our huge mortgage so that I don't have to work until I'm 72. My husband wants to give them the 5%. What level of donation do other church goers with young families make?

I would work out the monthly outgoings and then donate 5% of your disposable income you can always alter the amount if you find its too little/much

We've had a series of sermons recently on stewardship and the emphasis has been on giving what you can, we're an inner city church in a very deprived area.
It has been suggested that 10% might be a figure you aim towards, 5% to the church and 5% to other charities, but with absolutely no pressure to give anything.

We give about 12% of our income.

There's a passage in the gospel that speaks about the poor woman giving what appeared to be little, but in reality it was a lot as it was most of her income.

So it depends on your personal circumstances really as to what you donate.

Why would anyone give 5% of their income to a church? You dont need a church to pray. I thought religions weren't obsessed with monetary gain, or is that just a myth?

You dont need a church to pray

I dont go to church but can see thats a ridiculous statement. I think you need to learn more about whats done with the money.

The problem is that most people have no idea how much it costs to run a church. They have an outdated notion that a few coppers in the plate will do it. In reality, they need a proportion of parisioners to be giving seriously large amounts, eg over £200 a month, as well as the bulk giving around £50.

Our church has a annual budget of about £500k. That works out at well over £1000 per adult. Some give none, some give a little, some modest amounts, and some huge amounts.

The biblical standard of the first 10% doesn’t really work with modern life, but whatever the giving, it should be sacrificial.

When you give, do it tax efficiently.

Nowt. You must be having a giraffe. No way is the Vatican Bank getting my monies. In fact they need to start paying out for all the lives they've destroyed.

You do know the money from the collection doesn't go to the Vatican, right?! I assume you mean the Vatican itself rather than the Vatican bank because the Vatican bank is just a bank with accounts and account holders like a standard high street bank: saying you don't want your money to go there is like saying you don't want to transfer money to x friend because her account is with Natwest or Barclays or whoever.

One Sunday a year, Catholic parishes take a second collection (i.e. announced separately from the normal collection, and people are told what it is for etc.) called Peter's Pence. This goes directly to the Vatican. No other money from the collection for the rest of the year does. 0% of the money I give to the church goes to the Vatican unless I choose to give to this extra collection once a year.

And if by 'the lives they've destroyed' you are referring to abuse victims, the Church (both the Vatican directly and other constituent parts such as dioceses and religious orders) does spend a considerable amount on compensation and related expenses. So the idea that you won't pay because the 'Vatican' doesn't pay is based on a false premise.

We live in Austria and if you are catholic the church takes 5% of your income directly. Everybody just accepts it

DH is from ROI and it has been a nightmare getting him off the list as we are not religious.

A few coins in the collection plate here! Plus a bit more for easter and advent.

10% of our net income, we have a standing order set up so it just comes out at the beginning of the month without us really calculating it into our budget now.

£20 each time I attend, typically 5-10 times a year - would go more but circs constrain me unfortunately.
Some great posts above, esp Fink & Naice. Thanks!
Fully agree that a Church isn't needed for us to pray, but imo its common sense that a building of sorts is ultimately needed, be it rented Parish Hall or big 'traditional' Church.
We are privileged to be free to practice our religions & attend wherever we want, in peace!

10% of our gross income as a standing order and probably another 3% in individual donations when we see something needed (might be a person in need, or a charity the church has drawn attention to, or something broken in the church). DH and I can get a bit excited about it as we see what God does with the little we give, it's always so much more than we could do by ourselves.

Irritable, reminds me of the Widows Mite, give what you can afford, the Lord loves a cheerful giver!.

Do people seriously give their own money to churches? Why?

The queen is the head of the church, let her pay for it!

@thegreenheartofmanyroundabouts may I ask are you in the CofE?
If you are, I've noticed a local CofE church with a very small, elderly congregation and they are expected to provide a certain amount each year, but another CofE church down the road gets an enormous income (I know because I found them listed on the hmrc charities website). Why can't the more affluent church "pay for" the poor one? It feels as if it's all becoming about fundraising in the small church, which does not seem at all in keeping with the reasons for having a church in the first place.

I give random amounts depending on what I have, was about to start a direct debit but then had to give up work so I haven't.
A friend does a % of her spare money, so anything after bills/mortgage etc, o think that works quite well. She says it means she has a fund for broken down cars and the like but can still support the church

I put about £40-50 a month to my church. We want to give more, and DH ought to give some to his church. We need to sit down and plan it. We would like to work towards 10% split between church and charities. It's all a bit ad hoc at the moment.

The queen is the head of the church, let her pay for it!
Quite definately not the head of my church, quite the opposite!

What does it pay for?
1.) for my priest (housing, bills, and a stipend, which is a tiny wage), so he can provide me with all the spiritual support and leadership he gives me.
2) the support of the diocese and it's employees, pastoral oversight, legal needs and advice, insurance, safeguarding, resources for the work of the church. Etc
3) building upkeep. Church and hall and grounds, heating, lighting, water etc.
4) day to day worship needs. Communion bread and wine, hymn books, an organist, newsletter printing, copyright licence for music etc., service sheet.
5) things for my children: colouring sheets, craft stuff, books and resources for their learning, donations towards trips and outings.
6) the mission of the church. Anything to do with helping the poor, sick or needy, or spreading the good news.

I think it's all quite a bargain price actually, which is why I'll often not claim back money I spend on things (printing when doing children's work, new ping pong balls, a bottle of squash, cake etc.)

Malcolm, richer churches do help the less affluent ones. It’s called Parish Share.

I am C of E and yes the cost of running the local church is spread out over a number of churches clustered together. I've been in dioceses that have worked it out at diocese level ie hundreds of churches or deanery level which is 10s of churches. At the beginning of the year the area dean tells us how much we need to raise in my area to cover the cost of clergy and central services and there is a lot of horsetrading between the different churches about who pays what. The big affluent churches pay more than the small struggling one

We do not pay the full cost of employing a priest but we have a plan to increase our contribution gradually year by year so that we move towards that goal. After the parish share our largest outgoing is the cost of gas and electricity. We do not get any money from the state.

I use to belong to a church where they expected you to give 10% of your income. At the time they were building a new church building. One Sunday the pastor asked the congregation to increase this amount to 20% to speed up the building! He said it would only be for a year or two. I was shocked by this, but all my church friends agreed to it. The next week the pastor said he hoped people had thought and prayed about this decision. However he wasn't going to do it as his car had broken down that week and he couldn't afford it now. I left that church soon after.

Thank you thegreenheart

I give 5% to the church - most to my 'own' church, a small slice to another church I go to quite often, another small slice anonymously to a particular member of the congregation who is no recourse to public funds, and then other charity payments on top of that - totalling about 10% of net income overall. But I used to give a fiver now and again, and I think both approaches are completely fine so long as you've thought about what's appropriate for your circumstances.