Tithe!

[p_rehbein]

Careful... Euphemia called me a liar when I said that same thing earlier in this thread. (But I do agree with you.... I know we couldn't.)

We do council our congregations, especially the Treasurers to try and hold their reoccurring expenses to the level of their monthly tithes. These include Pastor salary, building payment, utilities, insurance, any other financial cost that is a monthly expense............and then all other commitments be considered as Love Offering expenses....... Not all can do even this, and so other congregations help them when possible.

 

[Euphemia]

i would be curious to know the salaries.
the mega churches usually have big payrolls, for the management anyway. their are some around here that are completely insane.

im not accusing Euphs church of any wrong doing, just curious as it seems to be a bigger church with the dance school, cafe and all the rest. we have sermons and bible study at my church, thats about it.

Ours is not a mega church. We have a membership of nearly 1000, with a number of adherents, also. We have the extra interests built on our mission to reach and serve our city, and to be a people of excellence producing the next generation of spiritual leaders who are excellent in what they do for God, also.

 

[NarrowRoadDisciple]

1000 is a mega church A mega church is like .... 200+ for some gatherings
Couldn't we establish that a church where the pastor is unable to account for the state each sheep in the flock be out of order?

Quick question.... was not the tithe Abraham gave to Melchizedek, a high king and priest of unknown origin and a shadow and type of Christ... instituted before the Mosaic Law?

 

[Euphemia]

1000 is a mega church A mega church is like .... 200+ for some gatherings

I would consider a mega church as having a membership of well over 1000.

Couldn't we establish that a church where the pastor is unable to account for the state each sheep in the flock be out of order?

That is an unrealistic expectation. However a good church that uses the "cell church" format has pastors that have the capability to be on top of the condition of his flock---easily.

Quick question.... was not the tithe Abraham gave to Melchizedek, a high king and priest of unknown origin and a shadow and type of Christ... instituted before the Mosaic Law?

Yes.

 

[Yet]

I just love the word of God. I hope you do too.

 

[Dan_473]

It is only our business, and definitely not the business of members of Christian Chat Forums. That isn't sad. It's wise.

to me the sad part is that when you wrote

A very small portion of people's tithes goes toward heat, hydro and other sundty items, not to mention payroll, and that covers our church school (jr kindergarten to grade 12), our cafe, dance school and art school.

Indeed, every penny of one's tithe is multiplied to do more than its literal dollar amount.

there's no way for the rest of us to know how much is a small portion... how much the art school gets... how much the tithe is multiplied.

 

[dalconn]

In the old covenant we ask how much do we give, in the new covenant we ask how much do we keep

 

[Dan_473]

Yap, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost Paul wrote to the Corinth believers with the thought of "storehouse giving" that's why he made mention of the word "store".

"On the first day of the week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come."

I think the 'store' and 'storehouse' idea comes from the kjv... imo modern translations don't tend to use it.

 

[ladylynn]

Just curious Dan., why does it matter to you or anyone why someone else and their church tithes or doesn't tithe? Don't each of us have to be thoroughly convinced in our own minds? That is how I feel about it especially since there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many different opinions and teachings on the subject of tithing. Either a Christian knows the Holy Spirit is leading them to do something so they have a firm belief about it OR they don't. And if they don't they should not do it because then they will be doing it for a wrong reason like because everyone else is or isn't doing it.

 

[Dan_473]

i would be curious to know the salaries.
the mega churches usually have big payrolls, for the management anyway. their are some around here that are completely insane.

im not accusing Euphs church of any wrong doing, just curious as it seems to be a bigger church with the dance school, cafe and all the rest. we have sermons and bible study at my church, thats about it.

right... and I'm not accusing any particular church either... I was just curious about more details... like you said.

 

[blondieindahouse]

That is the absolute truth. What do they feel they need to hide?

Well here in the USA you cant hide! Most churches are under the 501c3 exemption status and it is public information! We here in the usa are transparent

Nonprofits are required to submit their financial statements and other information -- including the salaries of directors, officers, and key employees -- to the IRS. (For information on who is considered a key employee, see IRS Form 990 and its instructions.) The IRS and nonprofits themselves are required to disclose the information on Form 990 to anyone who asks. Nonprofits must allow public inspection of these records during regular business hours at their principal offices. However, many people won't even need to ask -- a number of websites make Forms 990 available for the searching, including the Foundation Center at http://fdncenter.org and GuideStar at www.guidestar.org.
In addition, people can request information from the IRS by writing a letter, including the name of the organization, the year, and the type of tax return requested, and send it to:
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Attn: Freedom of Information Reading Room
1111 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20224

 

[blondieindahouse]

It is only our business, and definitely not the business of members of Christian Chat Forums. That isn't sad. It's wise.

Do you have a tax exemption in canada? Is your church under it? Here in the USA it is called the 501c3. Records of all under the exemption are public knowledge.

 

[fredoheaven]

"On the first day of the week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come."

I think the 'store' and 'storehouse' idea comes from the kjv... imo modern translations don't tend to use it.

Hi

Well okay. that's a problem of having a modern translations thus creating confusion.

God bless

 

[Dan_473]

Just curious Dan., why does it matter to you or anyone why someone else and their church tithes or doesn't tithe? Don't each of us have to be thoroughly convinced in our own minds? That is how I feel about it especially since there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many different opinions and teachings on the subject of tithing. Either a Christian knows the Holy Spirit is leading them to do something so they have a firm belief about it OR they don't. And if they don't they should not do it because then they will be doing it for a wrong reason like because everyone else is or isn't doing it.

I'm concerned that some of my christian brothers and sisters feel that they are still under the commandment to tithe. to me, this looks like the same line of thinking that lead some people in Galatia to say the gentile christians had to be circumscized.

but definitely, give what feels right to you...

about other people's churches, Euphemia had mentioned some details about her church's budget... I thought it was really interesting, so I was asking for more details...

 

[Dan_473]

Most churches are under the 501c3 exemption status and it is public information!

see, that's what I thought too... and you may well be right...

when I looked on the internet, it looked like churches were exempt from filing... in most cases... then it gets complicated... imo...

there is a irs site where we can search for who's filed a 990:

https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/revokeSearch.do?searchChoice=ePostcard&dispatchMethod=selectSearch

when I searched for churches in my neighborhood, none of them came up... (the masons did, though)

 

[Dan_473]

Hi

Well okay. that's a problem of having a modern translations thus creating confusion.

God bless

to me, it doesn't look like it's the translations fault...

imo humans (including me) are naturally disposed towards "heresies"... "sects"... this lead to confusion... imo...

 

[Yet]

Ours is not a mega church. We have a membership of nearly 1000, with a number of adherents, also. We have the extra interests built on our mission to reach and serve our city, and to be a people of excellence producing the next generation of spiritual leaders who are excellent in what they do for God, also.

With a thousand members, how does everyone get a chance to use their spiritual function in a one hour meeting according to Pauls description of a biblical assembly?

And about the that 501c3 tax evasion deal. Didn't Jesus tell us to render unto Caesar, not get in bed with him?

 

[Willie-T]

Hi

Well okay. that's a problem of having a modern translations thus creating confusion.

God bless

to me, it doesn't look like it's the translations fault...

imo humans (including me) are naturally disposed towards "heresies"... "sects"... this lead to confusion... imo...

Uh.................. It was a joke, Dan.

 

[Dan_473]

With a thousand members, how does everyone get a chance to use their spiritual function in a one hour meeting according to Pauls description of a biblical assembly?

And about the that 501c3 tax evasion deal. Didn't Jesus tell us to render unto Caesar, not get in bed with him?

I hadn't thought of that idea before...

in, say, corintians, Paul does seem to be talking to a small group... imo... maybe meeting in someone's house?

 

[Willie-T]

Uh..... Dev, there is a gigantic difference between Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion