Joining a church- how much to pledge?

[Anonymous]

We're joining a Presbyterian church and they have asked us for an annual pledge of $$ we will contribute, but I have zero idea what is expected/normal.

Any ideas from DCUMers?

[Anonymous]

Bump. Anyone?

[Anonymous]

Tell them you'll give what you can annually. I hate when religion does this shizz

[Anonymous]

The Presbyterian church publishes the average amount of giving per member for each church. (Use the search engine to find the congregation near you and then click on the statistics for that congregation.)

https://www.pcusa.org/

The average for my church is about $1600 per member. We have given less and more, depending on our financial situation and how much we are participating in the life of the church.

[Anonymous]

When I first started attending my Methodist church I gave about $25 per week. We've grown that over time as we've become more involved in the church and our income increased.

[Anonymous]

10% of annual salary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10% of annual salary

We're Presbyterians, not Mormons.

[Anonymous]

Join the Catholic Church and give what you feel comfortable with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Presbyterian church publishes the average amount of giving per member for each church. (Use the search engine to find the congregation near you and then click on the statistics for that congregation.)

https://www.pcusa.org/

The average for my church is about $1600 per member. We have given less and more, depending on our financial situation and how much we are participating in the life of the church.

Does each child of a family count as a member, or would you double the above figure for a married couple with kids in order to meet the average?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Presbyterian church publishes the average amount of giving per member for each church. (Use the search engine to find the congregation near you and then click on the statistics for that congregation.)

https://www.pcusa.org/

The average for my church is about $1600 per member. We have given less and more, depending on our financial situation and how much we are participating in the life of the church.

Does each child of a family count as a member, or would you double the above figure for a married couple with kids in order to meet the average?

OP here. I have no real idea, though when they were explaining their congregation numbers, kids were extra, not part of the official count.

[Anonymous]

That would really put me off. Is there an opt out option? If not, I'd reconsider joining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That would really put me off. Is there an opt out option? If not, I'd reconsider joining.

I'm the pp that provided the link. I like that the church is transparent about the average level of contributions and their budget. It isn't a "suggested donation" or a requirement. Donate what you can, or what feels right. Just like any other non-profit, I appreciate knowing how the money comes in and where it is spent. As a minister's kid, I can tell you that 1) they are not paid well, and 2) at least in my parents' case, our door was always open to people in need -- even to the detriment of our family.

[Anonymous]

I am Methodist and when I joined our local church we were not asked for any specific amount. In fact, they never even mentioned we should donate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Join the Catholic Church and give what you feel comfortable with.

hahaaa. The Catholic church here had lectures weekly on tithing. And they would look up your name whenever you met with them to see your giving level.

[Anonymous]

OP here. The point is they DIDN'T give any recommendation on how much to give! That's the problem! I certainly am not going to bankrupt myself by feeling pressured to give more than I am comfortable with, but I just want to get a sense of what's normal.

I think they wouldn't care if I gave $5 a year (they are very welcoming and warm) but I just want to know what other people are doing.