Ministry News

Would the Person Who Dropped $1 in the Plate Please Stand Up?

Details: Monday, 23 February 2009 15:57

While Wall Street continues to endure a string of high-profile scandals and plummeting markets, a church in nearby Queens, N.Y., has decided to tackle its financial difficulties by making things personal-a little too personal for most of its members.

Two weeks ago St. Luke's Church in Whitestone, Queens, began publishing a breakdown of members' tithes and offerings in the weekly bulletin. Though the listing doesn't name any specific names,

it reveals how much was given in each offering envelope and how many gave similar amounts.

For instance, last week's printed "announcement" indicated a weekly collection of $8,527 from 661 donations. Of those, 21 parishioners gave only $1. The majority of givers tossed $5 in the offering plate, with $10 coming in second place as the most popular amount given.

"It just left a bad taste in my mouth," said one 20-something churchgoer. "What someone gives is their personal business. They shouldn't be made to feel bad that they're on the lower end of the spectrum."

Many members argued that offering such public financial disclosure was not only embarrassing but also seemed like a ploy to get people to give more. "I think it will embarrass some people a bit," said Fred Peterson, 82, a parish member since 1951. "Their names aren't on there, which would be really bad. But privately, people may be embarrassed."

But St. Luke pastor John Tosi said the reason was more for financial transparency than to shame individuals. "The idea was to let them know where our money comes from and where it's going, which is important," Tosi said. "We're not embarrassing anybody, we're not judging anybody," he added. And if the efforts causes a parishioner to reach deeper into his pockets, "That's not such a bad reaction, is it?" [nypost.com, 2/22/09]

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Comments

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0 #4 humanneigor 2011-11-30 18:59

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0 #3 Gerald Duran 2009-02-24 22:46

It saddens me to see believers who don't tithe, and not just because their church needs their money, but because if they don't trust God with their money, they won't trust Him with their marriage, career, kids or anything else important. That's a lot of unnecessary pain. The "tithe rate" should be the reflection of a pastors performance. Making it public may or may not work. If it is low, what their doing isn't working. Unfortunately, we measure church performance by size of attendance & healthy finances. If Barna is correct, and only 3% of Christians tithe, that explains the condition of the church (body of Christ). Many attendees, few disciples. If keeping score bothers us, try watching the next super bowl with no scoreboard.

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0 #2 Patricia Miller 2009-02-24 12:01

I grew up in a church that, twice a year, listed in the bulletin the name of every congregant with the amount he/she gave. While my family regularly tithed and gave significant offerings, it was not uncommon to see a name with 50 cents listed next to it. I was disgusted, and when I got old enough, told my father that I would no longer remain a member. We are to be generous with our time, talent, AND treasure. Humiliation and love don't mix

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0 #1 Rev. Michael Zulinke 2009-02-24 10:31

I would like to encourage Pastor Tosi to follow the example of the Calvary Chapel in Ft. Lauderdale where they have never "taken up an offering" and yet are the largest church in South Florida. The Unbelievers in our community are looking at the church and seeing that our focus is only money. Jesus said the coins are in the fish's mouth. Maybe we need to go fishing and not guilt people into giving.

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