What percentage of your net pay do you give to your place of worship and why?
442381
Yes it's well spent, honestly I believe that those who give are given back to by God. Not that thats a reason you should do it, but I often find little blessing in life when I give. \n\nI usually give $40/week and I make about $40k a year.
1147992
I go with this for myself.  10% for saving, 5-10% for giving if you are in a church.  35% for house expenses.  10-15% for groceries, 10% for unseen stuff, 5 to 10% for clothing all a month.  Hope this help.\n\n\nLC
853387
darn right there should be. say 10% if i make 100 bucks i give the gov 10, if i make 1,000 i give em 100, if i make 1,000,000 i give em 100,000, seems fair to me, unlike now where thoe more i make the less i bring home. before my last pay raise i brought home more money, im paying almost 54% of my income in taxes. the harder i work, the more i pay, for the people who arent working.. thats not fair to me.
920515
Yes, for it is written, Give to Cesar what is his.  It's in the Bible, people, when someone asked Jesus if they should pay taxes.  Now, The Church of SubGenius is the only church in the US to proudly pay their taxes.
220560
A tithe is 10%, So what you can do is take a roll of pennies, give 10 pennies to 5 different people, ask for 1 back. \n\nThat is one example. You can maybe expand on that.
187275
I believe 66 2/3% of your weekly pay up to around $400 bucks. Not sure of the exact amount.
629960
this is common in every church and organization.  people who have the money, have power in those settings.  If this was particularly obvious and cumbersome in your church, then be proactive--for real.  talk to the minister and see if he/she would address the issue.\n\nyou may want to go to a different church-but you will find those types of people everywhere, some less obvious and kinder though.
1030990
well, I was a bible thumping christian for 23 years-old. Then one day I woke up and realized that all Christian's do is judge and say how everyone is going to hell if they don't believe in GOD.  Who gives them the right to say that.  I also realized that you can't force others to believe in what you  believe in.  I was always being asked by fellow church members on why I didn't have a visitor at church or why I wasn't persistent on sharing my faith with others.  I just got tired of it and left.  No one should tell you how your relationship  with god should be like, even if it's not to their standards.   I also realized that the money I thought I was giving to god wasn't going towards his work it was going into the pastors pocket, There were single mothers in our church who could barely feed there families and the pastor has five kids and a two story house and he is able to write off food and bills when it comes to taxes, cause the Church pays for it.  Yeah the CHURCH me and my money pay him so he can live like a king.  so F***religion.  I couldn't be happier with out it.
151486
i will donate to church for support missionary all around the world 50%, then pay tax. After that, I will give 20% of the rest to my parents, then travel all round the world for one year.
861952
Allot of times, the congregation is suppose to help by chipping in more money, and possibly free labor on projects that they can do. If still not enough, you may have to have bazaars,garage sales, or events that could help to raise more money, like a big big "Revival"" that brings in more people and more money!! Good Luck! and God Bless!!
740823
It varies by location from a low of about 7.6% up to 8.8% or so.  If you post the location, I can give you a more accurate answer.
46595
I would make an arguement that the problem is not the salary of the pastor, rather it is the lack of tithing by the congregation.  I read recently that the average protestant Christian gives about 3 percent of his or her income.  Imagine what most churches could do with budgets that are 3.3 times what they have now.\n\nPastors have to pay their bills, and many have wives and children.  Most who enter the ministry don't do it to get rich, there are better ways to do that.  When I finish my Masters of Divnity degree, I will make about half as much as someone with an MBA.  But that's not why I am doing it.  I am doing it because  God called me into the ministry.\n\nAlso, most Pastors work much more often than on Sunday.  They are expected to be on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  They visit members in the hospitals and nursing homes.  They comfort those who expeirence loss and rejoice with a family at the birth of a child.  The pastor often also has to act as kind of the CEO of the church and attend numerous meeings outside of normal working hours.\n\nIf the church isn't paying him, how do you propose he make a living?
514752
People should offer whatever they feel compelled (by the Holy Spirit).  Personally, I think the whole "tithe" thing is repulsive (when the Church leadership is pushing individuals for it).  \n\nTithing was an OT practice (living in a theocracy), and is not comparable at all to our times/culture.  If an individual chooses to tithe, that is great.  But it shouldn't EVER be done for reasons of compulsion (pledges are fine if it it just being used to help the Church leaders determine their budget).\n\nI was in a legalistic tithing Church, and it really destroyed me (this was many years ago when I was new to the faith).  I neglected needs of self and family in order to "reach my tithe".  As I grew in faith and knowledge I realized how foolish I had been.  "2 Cor 8:12" was a huge wake up call to my legalistic tithing:\n\n2 Corinthians 8:12 "For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have."\n\n2 Corinthians 9:7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
705191
Try the 5% to the Church and 5% to the charity
663093
Boy when the topic of money is brought up it is sure easy to separate those with faith and those with just an intellectual conviction of their religion.  How do you suppose the building is supposed to get built?  Who is supposed to pay the power, the gas, the water, the garbage pick-up?  Who pays to have the carpets cleaned or the lightbulbs replaced?  People who turn against religion because money is requested reveal that they really have no faith in their religion at all.  Within the Lord's true church the law of tithing is lived by all members.  Every member of the Lord's church has been commanded by the Lord to return 10% of their increase.  And where did they get their increase from?  That's right--the Lord.  We are asked to only return 10% of what we make to help meet the expenses of the church.  Of course within my faith, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) we do NOT have any paid ministry.  NONE of our leaders are paid for their service--I know this beyond doubt, because I AM a local leader in our church and I have never received one dime for the hundreds of hours of service I offer.  So unlike manmade churches that PAY their ministers, within the Lord's church ahd kingdom the laborer labors for Zion, for if they labor for money they perish.  As with many other members of the LDS church I end up paying about $13,000 a year to our church to do my part to meet the necessary costs of building buildings, temples, upkeep, and maintenance of the existing buildings.  \n\n\nAnd I never lose a second's sleep over it.  The Lord blesses those who do their part and don't love their money more than Him.\n\nAn added comment to clean up much of the confusion TeePee is under:\n\n1.  He claimed we (the LDS) are sent a bill to pay our tithing.  Wrong.  I've been a member and a leader of the LDS church for nearly 50 years and that has NEVER happened.  All payments of tithing and offerings is voluntary and no one is forced to pay either.\n\n2.  He claimed that the LDS do not believe in salvation by the grace of Christ.  Wrong again.  We believe that there is NOTHING that we can do that would earn us salvation, it is a free gift from Christ.  What we DO believe is that if we want to receive the highest possible reward following this life we must be obedient to God's commandments (which ironically is exactly what TeePee's Bible teaches).  Our obedience helps us become more Christlike, it does NOT EARN us salvation.\n\n3.  TeePee doesn't understand the writings of Paul and his discussion of works and grace.  Paul was warning the people of his day to not rely on the works of the law of Moses.  New followers of Christianity were still carrying out the day-to-day sacrifices (works) of the Law of Moses and Paul taught that these had no saving virtue following the revelation of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  No where in the Bible is it taught that obedience is unnecessary.  How does TeePee justify John the Revelator's statement that at the final day we would be judged according to our works.  This is a difficult dilemma for Born Again Christians to wiggle out of.  And why did James teach that faith without WORKS was dead?  ANother tough one for the Born Again Bunch.  And why did Jesus teach that not everyone that saithed unto me Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of my father but he that DOETH the will of the father which is in heaven.\n\n\nPretty tough dilemmas for the Born Again Bunch huh?  In one of the great ironies of recorded history it is the Bible-Thumping-Born-Again-Bunch who actually don't agree with their own Bible after all.
540458
If you are a Christian, you are obliged to give 1/10th of your total earnings (probably every month) to God. You could give this to your church or to any other ministry of your choice. Alms are given to the poor, not out of compulsion but out of sympathy and a love for the under-priviliged.
214469
What is your question? I am in North Carolina! I am a pastors wife--Do you need help paying them? Let me know? bye