It is amazing to hear how church members view their tithes and offerings to their local churches. Though it’s cliché to say, the attitudes of their hearts reflect the nature of their contributions to the church.
I recently looked at hundreds of comments on this issue on this blog and on Church Answers. The attitudes in which church members gave were easily divided into two categories: church giving and church dues. In simplest term, church giving is an act where the member lets go of the funds with no reservations. He or she truly gives the money to God through the church. Church dues, though, have strings attached. They are not as much gifts as they are membership dues to receive certain rights and perks.
Look at each of these sets of eight characteristics. You will likely identify most of your givers versus dues payers in your church.
Church Giving
- Gifts are given with a heart of gratitude.
- The giver never speaks of the funds as “my money.”
- The giver has zero expectation of personal benefits from the church in exchange for the funds.
- The gifts are viewed by the giver as part of his or her walk of discipleship with Christ.
- The giver seeks no recognition, plaques, or naming privileges for the funds.
- The giver gives with joy.
- If the giver has any regrets about the funds, it is that he or she really wants to give more.
- The funds are “first fruits.” They are the first amounts taken out of paychecks and other sources of income.
Church Dues
- Funds are viewed as membership dues with entitlement benefits.
- The giver loves recognition for the funds donated.
- The donor withholds funds when something does not go his or her way. Indeed, the person will often attempt to persuade others to do the same.
- Money is almost always given with expectations. It is “my money.”
- Funds are often given from what is left over rather than first fruits.
- Donor sees money as a right to determine church spending without regard for the rest of the membership.
- These donors love to give designated funds since they have more control over “my money.”
- Giving to the church is a source of pride for the donor.
What would you add to these lists? Do you have more church giving or church dues?
Posted on September 12, 2018
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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35 Comments
It is so difficult to change the mindset of our people from the beginning they were taught about “church giving” than “church dues”. Perhaps you can assist me to change their mentality….
One thing I have learned from Thom’s blog is that I am grateful to God for the churches I have attended. I have not seen anything anywhere near the “weirdness” Thom brings up. Church Dues? Name plates on everything? Cemetery funds? Parlors? Wow. Pastors being run out by unredeemed deacons etc…. I am blessed! Thank you, Lord!
Great comparison/contrast. You nailed it!
“In simplest term, church giving is an act where the member lets go of the funds with no reservations. He or she truly gives the money to God through the church. Church dues, though, have strings attached. They are not as much gifts as they are membership dues to receive certain rights and perks.”
I would have to provide a negative comment on this matter, especially in the area of accountability and integrity. Regardless of whether there is giving or dues, there is always a human element that handles money in these circumstances. The premise that a Christian should always “give without reservation” is a flawed assumption, anymore that their is “rights and perks” when someone gives.
Accountability and integrity are two common themes that are always missing in these conversations.
Having a hard time with this right now. I guess I’ve become a “dues” person? I don’t care about anything the church does to meet my needs. But I’m very frustrated at the extent to which my church has become very internally focused and frustrated at the extent to which our spending reflects our lack of interest as a church body in outreach and evangelism. It’s hard to be an enthusiastic giver when we see our church leadership being such poor stewards of our blessings.
As a pastor, have you made your feelings known to the pastor and/or elders (not knowing your tradition)? Until I’m made aware of concerns I’m unable to address them. I had a person leave because they “said” they weren’t getting anything out of my preaching and I preached the same thing over and over again (while they didn’t account for only attending church about 5 times a quarter, but that’s another thing). Their comment caught me completely off guard. Not that this is the case but I’ve found that unless someone specifically states their feelings, don’t sugar coat it – pastors are generally resilient, I am oblivious to their issues. Not by intent but because I don’t read minds as well as I read people.
Barb, I understand the desire to be good stewards of God’s resources and that is a good thing. I think also balanced in there is the fact that this is your current church home. I think having a conversation with leadership about concerns is an important piece of this. I have also found it fascinating that Jesus honored the widow who gave her 2 “mites” to the temple treasury which was a far more broken system than most churches. She did it for God. She of course didn’t have a lot of other options at her disposal. Just something to prayerfully think about.
Many Christians I believe tithe by accident. They only feel either the need or obligation to give when they attend church. If they don’t attend then they don’t give.
True.
On line giving has changed that …. somewhat .
God’s timing is impeccable. I just started as Interim Pastor at a SBC church that is definitely dying, but I believe it can be saved and transformed. The main issue is that EVERY decision is based solely on a financial basis. They chose to not continue paying our Summer Youth, Children, and Missions pastor because tithing has been down over summer and hey haven’t been able to “meet” their monthly obligations, yet they have over $50,000 in the “Cemetery Fund”. His salary was just $600 a month and the youth and children’s groups have grown by over 30%, and He has directed the first ever outreach campaigns for the community we are in. I am so frustrated, I could scream. What is the best way to Shepard them to reach a paradigm shift about how they view the money as “Their money”
We stopped taking donations to our cemetery fund as a compromise. It seems the people who started our cemetery fund expected the church to die. They wanted to make sure their family graves were taken care of. If I ever move I will never attend a church with a cemetery again. The youth have been neglected at our church far too long. We have shrinking attendance and very few youth as a result.
Jeff,
If you would like to connect with me, I think I can give you some helpful thoughts. As a church consultant I teach a session called, “Discipling Generosity” which focuses on four principles of discipling people to understand biblical generosity, and respond as God leads them. Those principles are: Teaching – Modeling – Inviting – Celebrating. I can go deeper with you.
Go to our website and search for me by name.
Jeff, our website is http://www.christianinvestors.org
Cemeteries and their finances are usually regulated by state law. It is likely that if a “cemetery fund” is a state-designated maintenance trust, that money can only be used for specified purposes directly related to maintaining the cemetery itself. State law also usually specifies amount or percentages of deposit on new burials, or grant of right to a future burial, so you can’t even decline a new deposit in those cases.
As frustrating as it is to have money that you can’t use, your hands are really tied, legally speaking. Also, as a moral issue, you owe a debt of trust to the people who were offered accommodation there.
However, being in a state that has a maintenance fund and being the caretaker of a graveyard (there is a difference – most churches have graveyards not cemeteries) there is normally an exception to the requirement for perpetual maintenance requirement. I believe the difference is based on the presumption that the church will last in perpetuity, thus there is no need to demand they maintain perpetual care.
Typically the requirement falls to a for-profit cemetery. A church can choose to provide for perpetual care for their graveyard but it’s not a requirement.
Thanks for this list, as we receive our tithes and offerings as part of worship as a worship leader I often offer a few words to help “set the scene” and this list hits on a number of the ideas I try to share.
Dr. Rainer,
Would you recommend or suggest that churches not receive designated funding? I understand it should be done on a case by case basis, but overall do you think this is a good practice to aspire towards?
Outside of building funds and very specific missions funds, I would move toward budget giving as much as possible.
The advice given when going through seminary (grad in 2010) was to limit designated giving as much as possible. Mostly because, once designated the monies cannot be used for anything except the designated purpose. As Dr. Rainer said there are certain building funds that should be designated and a few other funds (scholarships, etc.), but designation can become an accounting nightmare; e.g., when there’s $1.93 in the designated flower account and you stop putting flowers at the altar, what happens to the $1.93? It actually takes a board action and the consent of the donor (and you have to maintain who has given to the designated funds) to move to unrestricted funds.
Theologically speaking, designating funds can also infer that the donor doesn’t think the board is managing the funds correctly.
According to the IRS any money donated to a charitable organization (church) and then applied as a “tax write off” to a charitable organization cannot be designated. If the giver declares their gift as a donation/tax write off they cannot determine and or designate to the charitable organization on how it must be spent. They can ask/request for the funds to go somewhere or spent on something in particular, but the charitable organization has the ultimate say in where the funds go. That’s if they claim the donation as a tax write off.
Mahlon, where does it say that in the IRS code? I have been looking for it and I can’t find it. I am the treasurer at my church and we get a lot of designated money and I’m trying to stop it. If I could show the pastor exactly where it is in the code, I think it would help the church as a whole.
Contributions You Can Deduct
Generally, you can deduct contributions of money or property you make to, or for the use of, a qualified organization. A contribution is “for the use of” a qualified organization when it is held in a legally enforceable trust for the quali- fied organization or in a similar legal arrange- ment.
The contributions must be made to a quali- fied organization and not set aside for use by a specific person.
Irs publication 526, will be the source document most likely.
Contributions You Can Deduct
Generally, you can deduct contributions of money or property you make to, or for the use of, a qualified organization. A contribution is “for the use of” a qualified organization when it is held in a legally enforceable trust for the quali- fied organization or in a similar legal arrange- ment.
The contributions must be made to a quali- fied organization and not set aside for use by a specific person.
Where I’m currently serving as interim, I’ve noticed dozens of little wall plaques all around the church that identify items that were “given” in memory (honor) of a loved one. Would they be considered “dues”?
Paul –
It’s difficult to make an assessment of any one church. It really depends on the heart and motivation of the giver.
I tend to cringe a bit when I seen the name of a current parishioner of a wall/door/altar/etc. However, I feel it okay, and probably even very appropriate to see on such physical structures/items the name of someone who has passed on, and the gift is a memorial to that person and their memory or legacy.
Hebrews 11:4 “Though he has passed on he still speaks.”
(This passage was in reference to Abel, and how his faithfulness still was impactful after his passing.)
John E.
In the church i now serve we have a few of those plaques. but none were requested by the people giving the money. the church placed them because of their love for the people that the money was given in honor of.
Spot on!
Thanks, Heather.
As we say in the South, “You done quit preachin’ and gone to meddlin’!” 🙂 In all seriousness, this blog is timely and spot on. Thank you!
Thanks, Ken!