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originally posted in:Secular Sevens
8/13/2013 7:05:40 PM
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Just saying, the reason America exists was because England put restrictions on religions (yes a tax is a restriction, churches are rarely wealthy) causing people to come here for religious freedom. Had the British Empire allowed more freedoms then, it is likely we'd still be Brits today.
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Churches are actually very wealthy. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/charity/2008-10-07-charity-faith_N.htm
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Super churches. I personally don't believe so much in those for various reasons. Smaller churches tend to be more focused on the actual teachings of the bible, instead of money grubbing...
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The source isn't restrictive to super churches.
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I'm going from personal experience from 10 or 20 churches, not one to trust studies I know things about...
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To convince anyone apart from yourself that the source above is indicative of only "super churches", you will have to provide evidence.
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Well personally, every small, localized church I have gone to has had at least moderate money problems. Be it debt from expansion or just spending more than they have on missionary work and their congregation, good small churches tend to run themselves as such. Large churches tend to run themselves more like businesses, tending not to leave their money in god's hands so much. Not that I'm speaking out against large churches, there is just a lot more legalism involved.
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And how many of those localized churches are completely independent? You will find that there is a governance and reporting structure, and all those tithes go up to the top.
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All of them I have been to. Just because two churches share a denomination does not mean the money from one goes to the other.
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Ask yourself this question: Who decides where the pastor/priest/guy in robes gets relocated to, and who decides which new one to hire? You may find that it is less independent than you think it is.
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The pastor himself decides when to leave/ where to move on to. When he leaves, the elders (people who have done a lot for the church [rarely in a monetary way, they don't just buy their way in]) get together and start accepting applications from different pastors, trying out the ones who look good, then they hire the one they can come to a consensus on. The guidelines are not who can attract the most people, but the one who stays true to the actual teachings of Jesus without adding their own crap or deleting stuff they don't like.
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What you describe is a minority, if it is true at all.
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That is how a church is properly run. When churches dont run themselves this way it causes problems. When churches have problems they get more into the public eye because people just love hating on churches for whatever reason.
