Job 24:4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together. My home church (I have been known to visit more than a few – variety is the spice of life) is a reasonably large congregation of happy, middle-class people made up from a blend of ethnic origins typical of the diverse Canadian human palette. I suppose the only unique thing about us is that about eighty percent of the members are well beyond sixty-five years of age; there are a lot of white heads and canes at St. Mark’s United Church. And that means a lot of pensioners, some of whom live on small pension incomes and have little disposable income. Like all churches, during Sunday services, we pass around the collection plates for the offering. I see many people pass the plate along without depositing anything and I assume one of two things: they give in other ways; they cannot afford to give. Knowing the age majority of our congregation I would bet that an inability to give each week is the more accurate answer. It saddens me for a number of reasons but I usually think about how someone feels when they cannot give and how passing the hat empty handed announces their financial challenges to the watchful eyes of the congregation. At St. Marks, there is nothing in any of our printed information that addresses this issue. There is no part of the sermon or announcements or any printed materials to welcome those who are not able to give; there are no acknowledgements of the equality of acceptance by the church family regardless of the ability to give, how much or how little. There are, however, plenty of materials about giving, tithing, how to give, how much to give, when to give, where to give – you get the picture. It seems like the church purposely ignores the reality of those who cannot dig into their pockets each week though I would certainly bet that is not the case; but it does look that way. I can recall seeing such mentions welcoming those with limited financial means in printed materials in the backs of pews in churches years ago. I have not seen it lately so I think the practice of welcoming everyone into the church, even those with shallow pockets, sadly, is a fading Christian concept like birth control or marriage restricted to being between a man and a woman or worship services without jumbo video screens. I wonder what Christ would think about the money, money, money fever of the modern church and the rising neglect of those who cannot participate in the drive to give , give, give. Click "Read More" to the right to continue.... Churches today seem aggressive in their pursuit of money. Car washes are held to raise cash, after work programs on a dozen topics like bible study, divorce, raising kids, all offered at a set fee, are brought to the congregation to raise funds. A couple of times a month at our church the minister gathers the children around, the few of them that we actually have, and provides little baskets for the kids to wander through the pews and collect toonies and loonies (Canadian coins for $1 and $2) and then later on we are hit again with the usual offering collection. I know of a church, and there are many more, who has cash machines in their common areas specifically for people to tithe. I have received emails repeatedly from churches reminding me to tithe. It is like the church has developed and mastered the art of collecting money; like the church has become a brand and is applying tested and proven methods for growing wealth.
Praying For PAR : Pre-Authorized Remittance Every week I get a smile near the end of the service because our minister repeats the same prayer of thanks after the collection and after the offering hymn plays out. She actually thanks, PAR – Pre Authorized Remittances. That is when I smirk a little and shake my head. And every time I hear it I think of all of the other serious issues of great importance that could be sent to God’s ear instead of thanking him for automatic, electronic tithing. And let's face it, the other reason it is mentioned in the prayer is to encourage others to get on board with: PAR. I mean, seriously? With everything going on in our world today – praying for PAR? The backs of our pews contain colour printed glossy brochures with information on PAR: how much to give including a bare minimum offering each week; how to set it up with your bank; how to grow it slowly over time to reach your maximum giving amount. There are business cards that clearly say, “I give through PAR,” to drop into the collection plate to show everyone that indeed you do give something and that you give it through PAR – like it is some kind of status symbol. I know a little about marketing so I know what the church is up to by making PAR so visible. It’s all about switching people to a monthly payment big enough to be of great use and small enough to be disregarded when it is taken out of a bank account and, a constant, dependable stream of cash and, frankly, something that is not easy to cancel. All that is great unless, of course, you are one of the pensioners in the congregation who have a little trouble getting by and even the minimum PAR contribution of $40 a month is something they cannot easily disregard. (Yes, there is a minimum of $10 per week. I must assume that signing up to give $9 a week is unacceptable.) And that brings us back to acknowledging those who cannot give. Back to extending our love and inclusion no matter how deep or shallow someone’s pockets are. Yes, churches need to pay the bills and yes they are growing bigger and bigger these days and need more money to operate. But when I look around our church and I see expensive theatre lighting equipment, sound systems and computerized mixing boards – it all just seems to be too much. It is like we build the church expenses expecting the congregation to just pay the costs, keep building, keep paying and with no end in sight. It has reached a point where we have to find new ways of raising money, of securing monthly collection funds, of feeding the cost monsters we have built. And do we really need state of the art technology to worship Christ? In the path of church development, expansion and change and growth we have lost focus on ensuring that we reach out to those who cannot participate in this transfiguration and as a result many people feel less wanted, less appreciated, and unequal in their own congregations; forget about the shame and guilt and embarrassment they quietly endure. And if I am correct, wasn’t Jesus keen on including everyone in our faith, particularly the poor? I wonder what he would think of PAR, the money, money, money fever of the modern church and the rising neglect of those who cannot participate in the drive to give , give, give.
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