If your family income is $200 a week, can you afford $5 to the Church?

[Disney1fan2002]

I really like my Church, and the Priest that runs it. They built a new addition, and it cost money. They are still trying to pay it off. They have special collections, ect. I know one of the critical aspects of the Catholic Church, is how they seem to always have their hand in your pockets. Many non-Catholics have told me that is what it seems to them. Is how much you can give.

I have always ignored such criticism. My whole life, there have been weekly collection at Mass. Many times, two collections.

Now, my Church, suffering from the small numbers in the Parish, has come out with a donating guideline. Basically, you should give 2.5% of your weekly family income to the Church. I read this every week, and each week it irks me even more. I see that it says a family with a weekly income of $200 should give $5!!!!! If i was only bringing home $200 a week, the only way I could part with $5, is if it was to buy a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs, because that is pretty much what $5 will get you today.

Based on OUR income, I should be putting $18.00 a week in the Church collection. To me, that is too much...sorry. Some people really take their Church obligations serious, and that is fine, but for me to be told what I should be giving, and to have it be THAT much, I am irked. I know the Church needs money, but they should take what the people offer and make do. IMO.

 

[ElizK]

Well, the Bible (new and old testament) say to give a tithe, which means 10%. If you earn $200.00 a week, you ought to be giving $20.00 each week. It took me a looonnnggg time to be able to take that step of faith and actually give a true tithe, but I can tell you that I have never failed to be blessed by it, and, though have been very tight some weeks, have never failed to be able to make ends meet.

For me it's not so much giving to the church, but giving to God. He has blessed me with so much! I want to give a small portion of what He has given me back.

 

[beattyfamily]

It's just a guideline. No harm in a guideline. Same with tips, right? They give guidelines but you tip what you want to.

I believe in giving as much as I can, just like the previous poster, and I also believe I get SO much and more in return.

 

[Free4Life11]

I am not a fan of "guidelines." Tithing should be not be done out of obligation in my opinion. I think it all depends on your attitude.

And Eliz, I agree with what you said. My parents have really followed that in their lives and while I don't believe that tithing alone will get you "blessed," I will say that their needs have always been met. This isn't to say it's a "formula" but I do believe that if you tithe your needs will be met.

 

[lemondog]

This is not just a Catholic thing. Many churches encourage you to tithe, per the bible. One of my best friends is Baptist and her church is very into the tithing thing. Whereas my Catholic parish is not. So go figure. You will find some parishes are, some aren't.

As for us, we tithe enough to get our DD the discounted tuition at the school. It's an amount we feel comfortable giving. We have always given this much, even before we applied to the school. It's not 10% of our income by any means, but we have a lot of debt from college, cars, mortgage, etc. I know you are supposed to put tithing first, even before house payments, but with 3 small children and me only working PT at a preschool it's just not an option for us right now. However, my friend (the one I mentioned earlier) truly believes you tithe before ANYTHING, and the Lord will provide for you. And I have to say, she always is taken care of, even though she tithes a LOT of their income and is the primary breadwinner (she is an accountant, her DH works serving for a caterer). And no matter what she needs, she always seems to have it. I wish I could have her faith but I am just not comfortable tithing that much of our income right now.

You need to do whatever you feel comfortable with. If that means $1, great, if that means $20, great. Also, remember part of the whole tithing process, at least in our Catholic church, is TIME, TALENT and treasure. You may not feel comfortable parting with so much money, but you can donate your time or your talents to help the parish in other ways. Even prayer, IMO, can be considered a form of intangible tithing.

 

[KristaTX]

2.5% is not asking for much at all when you consider that tithing traditionally is 10% of your income. How do people expect the church to pay its bills, pay the preacher/priest, help the helpless, etc., without members donating money? Yeah, some churches focus too much on money and guilt members into giving at least 10% in a really annoying in-your-face way, and those churches bring a lot of negative attention to The Church as a whole in a very squeaky-wheel sort of way.

But most churches are not like that and are not out to get rich. It certainly doesn't sound like your church is. If all your church "needs" in order to function and meet the budget is 2.5% of what the congregation members earn, then count yourself and your church very lucky and/or blessed. As for the really poor people making $200 a week, then maybe you are right and they can't afford it. But hopefully the people who make more money will see that and help bridge the gap by giving more than 2.5%.

 

[HappyMommy2]

I think it's okay for a church to give friendly reminders that operating a church costs money and that everyone needs to pitch in to support the facilities/staff/ministries etc. that they are benefitting from as church members. HOWEVER, I do not think it is EVER okay for the church to impose consequences on anyone who does not give some "recommended" amount. I think that is God's business, for Him to be concerned with.

We tithe (10% of gross income each month), and have tithed since we were first married, when I used to have to look under the couch cushions sometimes to find money for groceries at the end of a pay period!
We have always done fine. However, if we ever went to a church that started specifying a particular amount that was "due" each month, or--worse--threatened to impose consequences on people who didn't give a particular amount, we would leave that church right away. Again, I think that is God's to handle.

JMHO

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Well, the Bible (new and old testament) say to give a tithe, which means 10%. If you earn $200.00 a week, you ought to be giving $20.00 each week. It took me a looonnnggg time to be able to take that step of faith and actually give a true tithe, but I can tell you that I have never failed to be blessed by it, and, though have been very tight some weeks, have never failed to be able to make ends meet.

Same with us. I can't explain how or why, but we give the 10% (as the above poster said tithe literally means tenth) and we seem to do better financially then we did before. At our church (who desparately needs the money but still tells people only to tithe what and where they feel called to) its empahsized that financial tithing (in addition to time and talent type) can be accomplished in other ways then just giving money to the church. You can give to a friend (or stranger) in need, favorite charity, etc. Tithing is giving your money to God, not "the church" so give where you feel called to give, not where you feel pressured to give. The Bible also says your money should be given freely and without reservation, so don't give if you don't want to, thats not the point. The point is an outward showing of your inner priorities. And 10% is alot, as our pastor says thats kinda the point, how easy would it be to give 1% and not think twice... what kind of faith does that require, what kind of thanks is that giving? How many people say God is #1 but can't give him back just 10% of the blessings he's given them, even with the promise that he will bless them more in doing so.

 

[MidgeD79]

Our Methodist church encourages tithing. I caanot afford to give 10% of my income so the pastor suggested that I start at $1 a week and then increase as I see fit. That helped me so much! I always give at least $1 but have been able to give $10. The pressure is off!

 

[tubaman]

I don't think it should be like that. Sometimes you can get more if you just plain old ask for money. Like when our youth group is doing fundraising, and we make food, we just set out a donation box instead of a set price.

 

[Buckalew11]

Well, the Bible (new and old testament) say to give a tithe, which means 10%. If you earn $200.00 a week, you ought to be giving $20.00 each week. It took me a looonnnggg time to be able to take that step of faith and actually give a true tithe, but I can tell you that I have never failed to be blessed by it, and, though have been very tight some weeks, have never failed to be able to make ends meet.

For me it's not so much giving to the church, but giving to God. He has blessed me with so much! I want to give a small portion of what He has given me back.

I agree with many of the posts here. God has blessed me during good and bad financial times and even when DH was unemployed, we tithed. I was always amazed at how we seemed to make it each month.

I wouldn't be comfortable with my church telling me how much to give. A 'tithe' means 'ten percent' so that is my guide. I don't need them saying more. And besides if they are standing there with their hands out waiting on me, I'd be a grouchy giver instead of a cheerful giver.

In giving a tithe, I think of it more as I am giving back to God and not to people (or the church specifically) which changes my attitude about parting with the money. God wants our first fruits and not the leftovers & the attitude in which the money, time or talent is given is extremely important IMO.

I'm baptist and our church never harps on money (but like all churches they are all different, I know). When it comes to money, I have always had much faith in God to take care of our needs (but I struggle in other areas often!)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Keep in mind--that some people are just having part time jobs--as a courtesy they were merely setting up a table of what certain salaries could contribute based on the suggestion.

So if Sally Mae is working part time at the Piggly Wiggly and she wished to contribute to the fund--she can look at the chart and see that based on her $200 per week or per month or per year salary--the amount to give in those increments would be $5.

Operating a church is not the same as a "fund drive" for band camp. In a way my church does *ask* for the money via their annual budget report they release at the end of the fiscal year. It shows what they brought in, what they spent, and what they spent it on. Usually the annual appeal roughly coincides with it as nothing more than a reminder that they can't run on nothing and the readings in particular about tithing are read to reinforce the concept of giving. [

The tithe is the suggested amount. Any church that teaches hell and damnation for it--should really rethink their mission. Those who think they can't possibly give that much--should learn to trust in the Lord. 2-way street. It isn't like they are getting verification from their income taxes.

Knowing the tithes set forth allows the church to budget for the year and they can know what they are working with. For my church--they are fortunate enough to balance, while others...can't b/c the donations are short. But mass is attended, there is a need for the church. They just don't receive all the money they need.

[On fundraising in general: Often times people don't know what to give and it has been shown that yes--if you do ask for specifics, you'll get more than if you said nothing. People want to know what they should "pay" not figure it out for themselves.]

For now--My church is in the process of raising money to build new buildings--some that were to be built anyway and then a new parish hall when ours was damaged beyond repair from 2 hurricanes in 2004. They MUST have 80% of the donations committed (via pledge cards/tithes) and MUST have 50% cash on hand before they can break ground. If a donation box sat for this--it would be DECADES if at all before enough money was raised to fit the requirements. We have nearly 10,000 parishioners and our campaign has been in progress for about 6 months now. We are getting close!

I appreciate that my church practice what they preach and they also tithe on their annual donations and giving it to good causes in the diocese and around the world.

 

[grlpwrd]

I hope you all don't mind if I interject....

how do you pronounce tithe? Is the i pronounced like "tie"? I can't figure out the dictionary's pronunciation notation. Just curious... thanks.

 

[disykat]

While I disagree with telling people amounts other than teaching the Biblical tithe - I think sometimes you do have to encourage sacrificial giving. For different people that means different things. However, I don't think I could live with myself if I could afford to go to a movie, eat out, have cable tv, etc. and not put money in the collection plate. In fact, I've had times where I couldn't do those things yet still gave money.

If I was living hand to mouth and had no money for any extras, I would have no problem not giving anything monetarily and simply serving in other ways. I have confidence God wouldn't care.

2.5% sound very affordable for most. Some people need to be educated that it does take money to "run" a church. If you expect to have a heated building, a paid minister, programs such a Sunday School curriculum and music - it takes money to do all those things. If people aren't even tithing 2.5%, it makes me wonder how your church can afford to keep the doors open.

 

[Lil_Tink]

Our church is really nice and making a new church and our services. How they make their money is donations and they sell food and such. But this is a regular Christian church

 

[swea_pea1]

I hope you all don't mind if I interject....

how do you pronounce tithe? Is the i pronounced like "tie"? I can't figure out the dictionary's pronunciation notation. Just curious... thanks.

Yes, it's a hard "i" like in "tie".

Every church I have ever been of parishioner of has encouraged volunteerism to the ministry of the church, not just a weekly donation. If you don't have the money to give to your church, they'd love the gift of time. They need folks to teach CCD or RCIA, they need Eucharistic Ministers, lecterns, etc.

I've never been in a parish where it's simply been all about money, although many people espouse that's what the Church is all about. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how little the money matters if you're giving in other ways.

 

[kayeandjim00]

I totally agree with what your church did. It never hurts to offer a reminder and truthfully 2.5% is not very much. They aren't saying anything will happen if you don't - just that it would be an appropriate amount based on that income. Like many I was raised in a church that was adamant that 10% be given. Churches can't run without money. They have to pay the priest, keep the church going - we are all complaining about our heating bills. The church has similar issues they have to pay more for gas and electricity, etc. however some people have never changed the amount they give.

 

[jimmiej]

Malachi 3:9-11(NIV)


9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty.

 

[dundee10]

To the poster asking about pronounciation, yes, the "i" is long, as in "tie." In fact, just add a "th" sound to the end of tie and you've got it.

 

[mommyoeo]

The Bible says that not honoring God with 10% is robbing Him; he didn't have to give us the 90% in the first place and offers us 10% to have a gift for him. It has never been ours anyway. It's the whole six pence none the richer thing-- We'd have nothing to give if it were not for God blessing us and yet he allows us to have a gift to give back to him. In the case of the tithe, it would be "10% and none the richer" because God owns it all in the first place. God's not richer by our 10% but he then blesses us for giving it to him (He's generous!!). None of us will take our money with us when we die; we're merely stewards of it while we're here. It's all his.

Imagine how much it costs to heat and cool a large house of worship. What about the lights? Water? Paper and crayons for the children? Wine and bread? Carpet? Pews? Exterminating? Insurance? Copier machines? Phone lines/Computers/publishing? Someone to clean the building? I assure you that as often as a bill comes in for our households, 10 more come to our churches. If we want the benefits of the church, we should be responsible enough to carry our share of the burdens also.