OP - Do you contribute other ways? Volunteer to teach CCD or VBS? Donate to the weekly food collections or diaper drives?

Also, read the parable about the poor woman who gave a coin verse the rich man who gave "more" money.

And finally, why do you care what others give or don't give? It's personal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have kids who you'd like to receive the sacraments there eventually? God forbid there were a tragedy, would you want a loved one's funeral there? If so, I would up your contributions.

Surely the church would not refuse to hold a funeral or let families enroll kids in Sunday school to train to receive the sacrament of holy communion because weekly donations were low. I understand that the church is like any other enterprise in that it needs money to survive, but it's primary business in saving souls and should welcome anyone who followed its practices

I have never been in a parish that conditioned sacraments on contributions. I think we have a Catholic hater posting bs on this thread.

I'm the PP and I am actually RC and I did not mean it that way at all. I meant that if you intend to be more than a casual member, you really should not donate such a nominal amount when you could afford more. I don't think any parish would turn away someone in need. But I also don't think you should expect to have baptisms, First Communions, weddings and funerals at the church when you are not a supporting member. You are aware that synagogues have membership fees, right?

Yes, but Catholic Churches do not and no one will be denied sacraments because they did or did not contribute their "fair share."

Our priest suggested giving one hours worth of wages per week. That sounded reasonable to me so that's what we do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. That's very very low. I did the accounting for the Diocese 20 years ago, and I don't remember anyone giving $10 except maybe old people on fixed incomes. Write a check every month or week and deduct it from your taxes.

Wow, nice that the church accountant is Judgey McJudgerson.

the CATHOLIC church accountant is Judgey McJudgerson.

interesting thread. i think i need to up my donation.

We are on a HHI of about $225 ... we donate $50/week but also participate in funds, drives, etc. Last year our total contributions (via check and therefore able to tracked) were $7,600. I thought we were on the low end...

My husband gives a few bucks each time he goes, more for holidays.

We give directly to charities we support, though - more than 3% of our salary at the moment. We increase it each year.

^^ugh, sorry for weird run on sentence, giant thumbs and tiny phone

I agree with PP. I have started to give more as we benefitted from the wonderful things our church does than I did when I didn't have children receiving Sacraments and participating in church activities.

Anonymous wrote:Agree that $10/wk is low except for those on food stamps, very fixed income, etc. My parents on Social Security and a small pension give $15/wk, I think. I figure that the movie theatre can't operate for less than like $10/pp for a couple hours, and they are packing 'em in all week long.

BUT I think it also matters where else you give. I give a moderate amount to the weekly collection (I think something like 40/wk but I make a little more than you), a larger amount to the retired religious collection and Catholic Charities, an ever larger amount to Catholic Relief services, and only a very token amount to the Bishop's Appeal. Also, I have had priests note that they'd rather you give more to the monthly Mortgage & Maintenance collection, as those are their largest costs (especially in a snowy winter!), and they don't get assessed on that by the Diocese. You can kind of figure out where you want your money to go, and give based on that...but if you are sitting in the church every week, then I feel like you should at least pay your fair share in keeping the lights/heat on, paying the mortgage, and making sure the priest has enough to eat.

Also agree with the PP that said put it on faith direct aiind deduct from your taxes -- you can give 25% more without it costing you a dime. I never understand why anyone puts in cash, unless they have no taxable income.

I agree with this. A parish community is a family, and family members should contribute to family expenses to the best of their ability. So, if a highly paid professional is donating less than what he/she spends at Starbucks, then I'd think they were kind of a freeloader.

OP here.

One reason I've been hesitant to put in more is because I've always been unclear where the money goes and how much money individual parishes receive from a centralized authority (the diocese, or Rome).

I feel like there's not a lot of financial transparency and I'm uncomfortable with throwing money at a charity without more information.

Thanks to all who responded. It's been enlightening.

Agree that $10/wk is low except for those on food stamps, very fixed income, etc. My parents on Social Security and a small pension give $15/wk, I think. I figure that the movie theatre can't operate for less than like $10/pp for a couple hours, and they are packing 'em in all week long.

BUT I think it also matters where else you give. I give a moderate amount to the weekly collection (I think something like 40/wk but I make a little more than you), a larger amount to the retired religious collection and Catholic Charities, an ever larger amount to Catholic Relief services, and only a very token amount to the Bishop's Appeal. Also, I have had priests note that they'd rather you give more to the monthly Mortgage & Maintenance collection, as those are their largest costs (especially in a snowy winter!), and they don't get assessed on that by the Diocese. You can kind of figure out where you want your money to go, and give based on that...but if you are sitting in the church every week, then I feel like you should at least pay your fair share in keeping the lights/heat on, paying the mortgage, and making sure the priest has enough to eat.

Also agree with the PP that said put it on faith direct and deduct from your taxes -- you can give 25% more without it costing you a dime. I never understand why anyone puts in cash, unless they have no taxable income.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. That's very very low. I did the accounting for the Diocese 20 years ago, and I don't remember anyone giving $10 except maybe old people on fixed incomes. Write a check every month or week and deduct it from your taxes.

Wow, nice that the church accountant is Judgey McJudgerson.

Anonymous wrote:Whoa! Lifelong Catholic - I have never put more than $5 in the envelope. 250k HHI. My family gave the same growing up. My sister is a nun and after seeing how the church treats them I would never give more until the situation changes.

Two things:

1) You must realize that the cost of living has gone up considerably since you were a kid. That $5 doesn't go very far.

2) why stick with the church at all after seeing how poorly they treat people like your sister who dedicate their lives to the church?

Anonymous wrote:Whoa! Lifelong Catholic - I have never put more than $5 in the envelope. 250k HHI. My family gave the same growing up. My sister is a nun and after seeing how the church treats them I would never give more until the situation changes.

Why would you continue to practice knowing the church abuses nuns?

I find that hypocritical. Your $5 is still funding those hateful practices, you do realize, right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have kids who you'd like to receive the sacraments there eventually? God forbid there were a tragedy, would you want a loved one's funeral there? If so, I would up your contributions.

Surely the church would not refuse to hold a funeral or let families enroll kids in Sunday school to train to receive the sacrament of holy communion because weekly donations were low. I understand that the church is like any other enterprise in that it needs money to survive, but it's primary business in saving souls and should welcome anyone who followed its practices

I have never been in a parish that conditioned sacraments on contributions. I think we have a Catholic hater posting bs on this thread.

I'm the PP and I am actually RC and I did not mean it that way at all. I meant that if you intend to be more than a casual member, you really should not donate such a nominal amount when you could afford more. I don't think any parish would turn away someone in need. But I also don't think you should expect to have baptisms, First Communions, weddings and funerals at the church when you are not a supporting member. You are aware that synagogues have membership fees, right?