How much do you give at church?
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Anonymous
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My partner and I are in our 40s. We live together but are not married. Combined we make about $160,000 per year pre-tax. We live in a VHCOL area and do not own a house. I have kids from a previous marriage. I have decent savings and retirement but he does not.
I started attending a local church with my kids. How much is standard to give? Per week, per year? Right now I give cash, maybe $20 every time we go. |
Anonymous
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I go to an Episcopal church and we pledged to give $3000 next year - our gross income is $140k. Our church does automatic charges every two weeks or every month or whatever you want.
That said, only a small handful of people know how much we or any family give. There are no repercussions for not giving. Things were tough a while back and we basically gave nothing for three years. We have always done what we can to participate and volunteer and pray with our church community. |
Anonymous
| 10% is the standard |
Anonymous
I really don’t think that’s true. At our church annual meeting we get a document that basically shows how many people give regularly and then like how much is typical. I know most people in the church have a much higher income than if they were giving 10 percent. For the op, I wouldn’t give cash bc you don’t get a record. Your giving is tax deductible so give by check. |
Anonymous
What do you mean by "started attending"? If you have simply been attending for a while and are not members, then $20 in the plate is totally fine. It's more than fine. If you have officially joined the church and are members, $20 each time you go isn't appropriate at all, and you really should pledge during the annual pledge drive and pay accordingly. How much you pledge is up to you; the classic tithe is 10% of annual income, but personally I set aside 10% of my income for giving, and my church does not get all of that. I tend to give about 5% of my annual income to my church, and the rest is other charitable giving (much goes to the rescue I adopted my dogs from, when people are raising money with charity walks and whatnot I have money set aside to draw from for that, I use it to buy groceries for a local food drive, etc). Other folks only set aside 5% for total giving or whatever. You have to figure out what is right for your family's budget as well as what your commitment to your church community is while considering what that community's needs are. If you have been attending for a year or close to that, and are not members yet, then you should think about joining officially. A church is a living community, not just a show on Sunday mornings and a wholesome activity for the kids. -- very active member of a church, and have sat on the finance committee and collected the plate during service |
Anonymous
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Not all churches stress tithing.
Don't feel pressured. Decide what the church attendance means to you and what portion of your charitable budget you want to allocate. $20 is $1000 a year. That's not insubstantial. |
Anonymous
| We give $100 a week via ACH. That's about standard at our Episcopal Church (I served on stewardship for many years and could see pledge amounts but not tied to any names). There are some giving less and some giving more. I don't see many pledges less than $2K a year. |
Anonymous
| When I married my husband I was kind of dismayed that he tithes 10% because we were starting a family and planned to live on his federal government salary when they were small. But then I said who am I to hold him back—he’d been doing it for many years. And I came to learn his (now our) church has good stewardship; lots of worthy mission projects. It’s very personal but look inside your heart and try to find generosity. Like another poster said, we give some of our 10% to the church and some to other charitable causes. |
Anonymous
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We would rather have you and your family there not worried about the giving (active member, and former church treasurer). If you can give, give what you can!
We personally do aim for the 10% based on the Old Testament expectation of giving 10% of your first fruits (best harvest), but would rather have you there and not anxious about a set amount!!! |
Anonymous
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We give about 2% of our HHI. I agree with PP, give by check or ACH so you can deduct it.
Most non-Catholic churches run only on the pledges by their members - there's no larger body paying the rent, salaries, etc. This is important to understand for two reasons: 1) It's really helpful for them to know in advance what you'll give, so they can budget; that's why they ask for a pledge. 2) It takes money to make things go, as well as volunteers. Your minister earns a salary, and the church probably hires people (admin, janitorial, tax prep) who need and deserve to be paid, and it may have a mortgage. Imagine those expenses split between the number of people you see on a Sunday, and you'll have an idea of how much to give. |
Anonymous
| $0 |
Anonymous
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10% is not a good guideline if you’re thinking just finances because you can give your time too which is equally important. The important thing is to pledge, so they can plan and budget. My income ( without spouse) is 80k. I pledge $100 per month. I go every other week and put a check in the plate for $50.
I also volunteer for the monthly food pantry monthly as does my teen child. We also both help during the service Mon a rotating basis. Ushering during the service, reading the lessons, Acolyte. I donate money to other charities too, not just the church. That counts towards what you’re giving away. |
Anonymous
no it is not, ours suggests 2%. |
Anonymous
Yes, it is, for a family that has an income of 160k per year. Many people in the DMV who have incomes of less than that spend that much on Starbucks. |
Anonymous
Also Episcopal and also have insight into this. I also have not seen many pledges under 2k. I'll add that most of them at our church were between 2k and 5k. And this was a well off congregation so people are not pledging anywhere near 10 percent. |