PP, many people pledge at churches that don't require it - the only church I am aware of that does are the Mormons. It's a considerate thing to do for the church so they can budget as another PP pointed out, and the envelopes and auto-debiting are just ways of making it more convenient. I don't think anyone's arms here are being twisted.

well, OP, if you don't want the charitable contributions counted toward your taxes, then go right on ahead without your envelopes!

I attend a non-denominational Christian church. I almost never use envelopes and, unless I'm out of cash and decide to write a check, my church doesn't know what I give.

I would never attend a church that required pledges, direct debits, etc.

Another Catholic who uses the online debit system. We always forgot the envelopes, and gave cash.

My brother who is a priest says the envelopes are an old-fashioned system to keep track of donations for tax receipt purposes and to see who is active in the church. I thought that was a bummer, because we were always there but never used the envelopes.

I think these days it can be either/or.

Anonymous wrote:Another Catholic here who uses Faith Direct. Love it!

Us too! Like any other bill now, it comes off the front end of our budget at the beginning of the month. We actually give more this way than we ever did writing a check every week. DD gets a quarter to put in the basket each week - she's 2. Once we start an allowance, she'll contribute from there.

Like a PP, always did cash when I was young and poor. Now it's a dual benefit - helps the parish make its budget, and gives us a tax deduction.

I use internets, but I do feel a little weird just passing the offering.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what you mean. Do you just give ad hoc instead of pledging?

I give what I give, when I give. Money has nothing to do with following Christ.

I think you are free to give anonymously. But on the other hand Churches don't run off of prayer. They need to pay the bills, and a pledge campaign is part of having a predictable budget to work from.

Also, money does not have to do with following Christ, but giving up money sure does, whether to your church or something else. Jesus was pretty damn clear about that one.

Another Catholic here who uses Faith Direct. Love it!

ahh! I have to admit I used the envelops, but never bothered to fill out the outside because I was just too lazy. I didn't know what the outside was for.

People use envelopes to get an end of year statement for tax purposes and/or to have a leg up in admissions to the parish school and/or for in-parish tuition. That's why the church provides the envelopes, so there no need to agonize over this OP.

Weird post OP. we give through monthly debit. We used to send a monthly check. Never use the offering plate or envelopes. We give about $650/month so I wouldn't be comfortable putting that in cash on the plate. We get an annual statement which is useful for tax purposes.

When I was single and did the easy fed. income tax form, I never used envelopes. Now that I'm married and own a house, we of course do the long form. So we use the envelopes because they send us a summary of how much we contributed at the end of the year. One thing that makes taxes a tiny bit easier.

Now I'm confused if OP is saying she just tosses in $5 bucks or so when the spirit moves her and doesn't bother with the envelopes (or any non-trivial contributions)?

we use the envelopes because I want a year end statement and because I want in parish tuition. If you don't care or don't want that, then don't use the envelopes. I don't see what the big deal is.

I write one big fat check each year. No one's ever complained about not getting weekly envelopes. But now that I have a child in the parish school, I make sure I get the check to the church before the school tuition bill comes out in July. Not sure why. (I think we may need to be "contributing" members to the church to get in-parish tuition, but it's never been an issue so I don't know if this is true.)