1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Money, money, money. It seems that money these days is paramount on the church’s agenda. Congregations are hit in every direction for cash from the collection plate to tithing by cheque, to pre-authorized remittances to fees for programs and groups and get always and bible studies and concert nights and facility repairs and equipment improvements and local and international charities and refugee sponsorships - the list just keeps growing! And the threads of our pockets are fraying from all the friction. At my beautiful and historic United Church the reach for money is unabashedly common. It seems every time we turn around the shovel is thrust into our pockets digging for cash and this last Sunday something new happened: a group completely removed from our church, an international organization, gave a lengthy speech to our congregation and at the end of their pontification about the perils of autism, they passed around the church collection plates asking for our money to support the good work of their charity. Now, I have no hard feelings for people struggling with autism and I have in fact known a couple of autistic children in my lifetime so I can empathize through direct experience. And of course, any organization working to support research and support is worthy of charitable donations. I completely get it; giving to the cause of autism is a good Christian thing to do. So, to be clear, that is not my issue. My issue is the invasion of my worship privacy to shake change out of my pocket for something that has nothing to do with my time spent with God and my fellow worshippers. During the Sunday service a representative of a respected and well known autism society gave a PowerPoint, video, heart wrenching presentation expressing the concerns about autism and the society’s need for, yes, money. Not once in their entire performance did they speak about God, church, the bible – nothing. This clearly was a jiggle of heart strings to clear out some pockets on a Sunday morning before a captive audience. When the speaker completed her presentation she announced her appreciation for the donations about to be made as ushers rose to their feet and began passing around the collection plates. A bit of a rebel, I walked out in protest. It’s bad enough that our church keeps finding ways to take from our pay checks but now we are bringing in other cash grabbers? Renting out not just our church but our actual Sunday worship service? And let’s not overlook the obvious cash grab by the church here. They didn't sign away prime Sunday sermon time for nothing. Of course there was a fee paid by the speaking organization to have the privileged access to our captivated audience, and, to our brass collection plates, ushers…. You get the picture. Money, money, money. Didn't Jesus get upset about money grabbing like this? If your church is involved in this practice do the concept of church and worship a favor and walk out in visible protest and speak your mind when confronted about your objections. Otherwise, church venue fundraising, renting out the church, is the church’s future and our worship facilities will evolve into gospel based banquet halls or theme parks in an evangelical hotel complex with blaring gospel music and slot machines in the rectory and a breakfast buffet and cool rides for the kids . . . You get the picture. Church is a place for worshiping God and we give what we can to support the costs of running a church. It is not a place of perpetual fundraising and also happens to be a place to worship God. You get the picture. Comments are closed.
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