Pastor's and Giving

my thoughts/

i like what Jesus said in Matthew...

Matthew 6:3-4 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

I believe the tithes and offerings should be between the giver and God. Put the money in an envelope if one wishes, but don't sign it.

 

I must be really holy, I write the check and don't sign it.

Rob

 

There is no indication in Scripture that the mechanics of giving is different for Pastors than for laymen. In other words, he should write a check, or put money in an envelope, like everyone else does. If he wants credit for a tax deduction, then he needs to make sure the envelope is marked accordingly so that the Financial Secretary or Treasurer know what to put on his annual giving statement.

He should never see it as "giving back to himself". All of our giving is to God, not to the church or the pastor.

I've heard of some churches just deducting 10% from the Pastor's paycheck. I think that is a horrible idea. The Pastor needs to learn how to give like every other Christian - it is apart of his (our) sanctification.

 

#1

 

A pastor ought to tithe and should do so in like manner as his congregants.

By the way, I haven't written a tithe check in a long time. Web bill pay . . . its awesome.

 

Your church has PayPal???

Awesome, Dude!!!!!!

Personally---we'd still rather see the "Green" stuff!!! Know what I mean???

 

At our church, the large majority of people give at the worship service they attend; one of the 3. If the pastor, or other ministers, want to 'be seen' giving, then they would need to give 1/3 in each service. I never see them drop an envelope in the offering plates, but then I don't watch for it for them or anyone. Since I normally give monthly, if that often, when I happen to notice whether anyone near me gives anything that day or not, I just don't assume anything.

At a former church for quite a while I was the 'record keeper' for our Bible study department, and in that church most people (members, anyway) gave through their departments. The pastor was the main teacher in that department, and he gave weekly and encouraged everyone to do it that way... with "at least ten percent of your income," of course, and that you must propgress and give a greater percentage as years go by. I have posted before about some of my arguments with him being the teacher, so I'll leave that topic alone here. But since this is on the subject here, I will say it bugged me considerably that he was so imperative about tithing and also claimed he resolved years before to give 20%. As record keeper, I knew that his weekly contribution was 20% of his salary, which was known to anyone who attended business meetings. He had insurance paid, plus annuity, he lived in a parsonage, and his car allowance was $10.400, which I think was the maximum allowed then, but there is no way he used anywhere close to that on his traveling required for business. In addition to no rent or mortgage and that much expenses above salary, of course he inevitably had other income. So if a pastor is going to be forward about giving a 'double tithe' and being insistent that members give at least 10% of gross income-- ignoring that not all of us had our insurance paid or any value of retirement income and obviously had to pay for housing out of wages or salary-- he needs to be much more consistent than his misleading claims that some may have taken on face value.

 

#6. Should a pastor be willing to face the fact that there is no such a thing in Scripture as a church "tithe" command and be brave enough to tell his congregation if need be that there is no such mandate, yet preach on cheerful giving, meeting each other's needs, and examining one's heart if one can't give cheerfully and in abundance if at all possible?

 

It is indeed a horrible idea, because it takes away the sense of freedom and responsibility that every Christian, including the pastor, needs to feel. A friend of mine told me that when he was in seminary and serving a small church, they paid him in cash every Sunday, and he then turned around and gave back 10%. So the treasurer announced he would just keep the 10%, and paid my friend the remaining 90%. My friend then counted out 10% of that smaller amount and gave it. Point was clearly made, and the practice was not continued.

 

Your church has PayPal???

Awesome, Dude!!!!!!

[/QB]</font>[/QUOTE]I expect the poster meant that he could send a payment to his church from his bank account. Not PayPal and not anything the church had to set up, but simply the current practice in electronic banking. I almost never write checks for anything anymore, and do send in a monthly tithe electronically. If a church or business or individual does not have the capacity to receive electronic payments, the bank sends a check, without cost to me. I like it!

 

I've heard of churches that use paypal on their websites.

 

Doesn't giving to the church through an electronic fund take away from the worship aspect of giving? To me there has always been something special about the act of giving my offering during a time of corporate worship of the body.

 

AMEN! You said exactly what I was thinking!

Max

 

I normally say something to the congregation about our giving being just as important to our worship as anything else. Many times I will have a scripture reading related to giving and a few breif comments as to why giving is an important part of our christian life.

Max

 

I wouldnt mind the paypal thing. I dont want people watching to see when I give, its none of their business. I do worship thru giving at times, but most of the time i forget (as the plate isnt passed on the platform) and have to turn it in later. The worship for me is in the writing of the check and deciding how much (and obeying) how much I should give.

 

That is a good point, that should be part of the worship as well. Sadly, I doubt that most think of it that way though.

 

For my family, I believe it is a valid spiritual exercise to physically put the check in the plate. It is visible to us and our kids sitting with us in a way that me using an electronic transfer would not be.

Karen

 

I can see that .. but it's been a long time since anyone passed the plate in my direction! As a pastor I put my envelope in the church safe because I did not want to be ostentatious with my giving (I suppose there might be some members who noticed that I did not put anything in the plate and figured that meant I did not give, but I never heard that from anyone). Now that I am retired but am serving as a church organist, once again no one passes the plate in my direction. But we use the time dynamically, singing, rather than sitting and waiting for the moment to pass .. so it is still an act of worship.

In my church I knew from the way the offerings looked that most of our people gave their tithes once a month. The plates were pretty empty the rest of the month. The method is secondary to the motive.

 

I do preach that to the congregation here, but from the viewpoint that there are 2 schools of thought. Tithe because it is duty or give joyfully what He lays on your heart. Our giving came up by 28% after I delivered the sermon.

Of course, if we are to give as we are blessed, 10%, for most people, is robbing God.

I have never used an envelope nor written a check. I know the IRS says we need proof to deduct the money from our taxes, but I have never worried about that. I will leave the reward to God, rather than man or government.