Putting the Church’s “Rainy Day Fund” In Perspective

[rodheadlee]

22 hours ago, Teancum said:

Never heard of him.  Does not mean there are not scammers out  there that use this technique.  Copeland is one of them.

Yes I am sure there are many scammers out there. It's up to each one of us to separate them from the real and the phony. 

[Teancum]

2 hours ago, rodheadlee said:

Each person is responsible for their own Revelations.

Yea well color me skeptical that you would have some special message to avoid a scammer. If the TV pastor you supported was not a scammer I would say you were fortunate. Most of them are.

[John L]

On 1/12/2023 at 5:35 PM, Analytics said:

@smac97 has tried to justify the size of the Church’s reserves by saying things like

I read his post and one thing I don't understand is, if we're supposed to have faith in the lord and trust that he'll provide, why does the church need such a huuge rainy day fund? I can't help but see the church as a corporation first and a religion fourth or maybe fifth when I take in account how big the rainy day fund is. In my opinion, the size of this rainy day fund makes absolutely no sense for a church to have, especially one that preaches charity. 

[Calm]

4 hours ago, John L said:

I read his post and one thing I don't understand is, if we're supposed to have faith in the lord and trust that he'll provide, why does the church need such a huuge rainy day fund?

There is both the story of Israel in the wilderness and the story of Joseph and Pharaoh  in the Bible…the Lord may provide by manna or he may provide by inspiring saving for 7 years…or some other way.

[John L]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

There is both the story of Israel in the wilderness and the story of Joseph and Pharaoh  in the Bible…the Lord may provide by manna or he may provide by inspiring saving for 7 years…or some other way.

So is there a dollar figure that would be too much saving, let's say a trillion dollars, if the church becomes a trillion dollar corporation and there is still millions of members living in poverty, what would you say? That could happen in 30 years.

[Calm]

6 minutes ago, John L said:

So is there a dollar figure that would be too much saving, let's say a trillion dollars, if the church becomes a trillion dollar corporation and there is still millions of members living in poverty, what would you say? That could happen in 30 years.

There is a dollar amount I would say is too much, but currently I lack info to determine it.  Get me the short and long term plans of church leaders for the savings along with financial statements and predictions of future income and expenses  and I will tell you what dollar amount I consider too much.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Calm

[John L]

8 minutes ago, Calm said:

There is a dollar amount I would say is too much, but currently I lack info to determine it.  Get me the short and long term plans of church leaders for the savings along with financial statements and predictions of future income and expenses  and I will tell you what dollar amount I consider too much.

If the church actually has 250 billion, then that's too much. I would be ok with the church having that much if the charitable contributions were, let's say, 10% annually on the 3 to 4 billion received in tithing. 

If the church spent 10%, or 350 million annually on different charities around the world, then our church would look more like a church and not a corporation. 

[JAHS]

3 minutes ago, John L said:

If the church actually has 250 billion, then that's too much. I would be ok with the church having that much if the charitable contributions were, let's say, 10% annually on the 3 to 4 billion received in tithing. 

If the church spent 10%, or 350 million annually on different charities around the world, then our church would look more like a church and not a corporation. 

I know this is just your opinion and that might satisfy your criteria, but what about someone else? Would it be enough for them or too much? The Church has professional financial experts that know the business better than I do. Unfortunately in order to function in this world there has to be a corporation side to the church to deal with the expenses of today and for the future. The Church is not a charity organization like Red Cross, United Way, Salvation Army etc., rather it is a Church that provides charity and humanitarian aid like other religions do, but it is still a church where the main objective is to spread and teach the gospel to the world and its members which costs a lot of money. No matter what it does it will never be enough to satisfy all the critics who think it should do more.  OK climbing down off my soapbox now.🙂

[Tacenda]

28 minutes ago, John L said:

If the church actually has 250 billion, then that's too much. I would be ok with the church having that much if the charitable contributions were, let's say, 10% annually on the 3 to 4 billion received in tithing. 

If the church spent 10%, or 350 million annually on different charities around the world, then our church would look more like a church and not a corporation. 

I agree, 100%

[LoudmouthMormon]

Are folks seven times madder at the Greek Orthodox church, than they are at my church?  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_religious_organizations