Jewish Synagogue dues discussion (idea from the tithe thread)

[disneyeveryyear]

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have provided me with a lot of information.

Even though my city is fair sized (110,000), we have a fairly small Jewish population (1 Conservative and 1 Messianic). This discussion has provided me with a wealth of information I never knew.

Our church, United Methodist, also asks for pledge cards each year to try to determine the budget. Of course, that doesn't stop the minister from reminding us every so often that the building fund needs $, or that the operating fund needs $. However, that said, you will never be confronted about your level of giving.

In addition, where as we may normally have 1,500 to 2,000 at our church over a weekend of services (5 services), on Christmas Eve we will expect over 5,000 at 4 services. There will also be an offering plate passed at each of these services in addition to the Sunday a.m. service on Christmas Eve.

Once again, thank you for providing me with this knowledge.

 

[cherylp3]

Just so you know many Jews ( Conservative, Reform, etc. ) Do not recognize Messianic as a Jewish Movement and disassociate themselves from them. http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/ is a good resource site on this topic

 

[rigs32]

Also, if I wanted to go to a High Holy service just to observe, is that allowed, providing I got a ticket from someone?

While allowed for anyone with a ticket, for purely observation because of interest, you may want to seek out a non-ticketed service. Most colleges and universities hold their own high holiday services and they rarely have tickets. You can call your local Hillel to ask or local synagogues might know, too.

 

[barkley]

just as an fyi-the seventh day adventist church also does not traditionaly do 'collections' or accept tithes at services (which are held on saturdays which they reccognize as the sabbath). they may announce an offering for a specific charity and attendees can choose to contribute or not, but their belief is that it is not appropriate to engage in any buisness transactions on the sabbath-and collecting funds to support the church falls under that category (because the funds go to pay for bsns. expenses-mortgages, utilities, salaries...). sda buisnesses (with the exception of hospitals and other 24 care type facilities) generaly close at sundown friday evening and do not re-open until sundown saturday or more often sunday morning.

i can't speak to all christian churches in our area-but a large number are restructuring their 'membership' policies. many are requireing for membership that individuals attend a minimum number of services per month and do a set number of volunteer hours. the reason being-far too many churches that operate private schools found that people became members of the congregation purely to benefit from tuition discounts, and took no part in supporting the churches non educational works. we have one lutheran church in our area that has a great deal of internal discourd currently-long time devout members are upset at what they view as their churches only active efforts going towards their school of which there are few ACTIVE member children attending. they are very upset to be transitioning from being a church with a school to the 'school's church'. it will not be a surprise if a large number of the elder membership break away and form s separate congregation-one that will def. never consider a relationship with any type of school.

 

[Glendamax]

I'm a Christian, and my family has been members of our church for over 50 years. I didn't know that Temples had fees. But, it makes sense. At least you don't have to worry about raising money for anything, and the mortgage gets taken care of. I think it's great that free tickets are available for the Jewish Holidays if you're low on money.

At my church, we are taught to pay tithes - 10% of your paycheck (each time you get paid), and we give a Thanksgiving/General Offering (every Sunday). The problem is that everyone does not do this, and we end up short sometimes on bills/projects.

Interesting thread!

 

[golfgal]

The churches we have belonged to have gone away from the 10% tithe and more toward the 10% of your time, talent or treasure, meaning, if you can't give money, give your your time or talent. We had one man at our old parish that could fix ANYTHING. He was retired and lived on a fixed income and couldn't give the church much but he fixed anything and everything that needed fixing. For the priest, that was WAY better then getting a weekly check because it saved the church a HUGE amount of money every year. There are those that don't have time to do much for the church so they are asked to contribute more. I think it is a great way to approach giving.