To church goers?

Question

I have already asked this but only two responses and I want to hear from church goers because this is the reason I have never joined a church. Why do you spend the money you collect on fancy buildings, lavish displays, state of the art media systems instead of helping less fortunate people in an effective manner?

Answer 1

why do you think we are all obssessed with those things? ever heard of the Salvation Army? you probably haven't heard of church missions going to 3rd world contries to establish villiages, get medicine supplies for the people, provide monetary compensation, educate the people in basic knowledge and train them in crafts (even with computers that were provided), and even set up farms. and what about the churches who go out every week giving service to the homeless in their own cities and providing them with warmth, food, etc.

really, until you know all the aspects, don't judge.

Answer 2

Oh come on people this guy asked a simple question that he didn't know the answer to and y'all are just hatin on him. Here's my answer though, I come from a very small church so we have to use most of our collection on maintenance and not so much on utilities. Every first Sunday we take a contribution for the van that we use to transport the elderly who can't drive anymore so they can come worship. I'm one of those people who has never really appreciated church that much but I still believe in god, but that's not really the point. On the other hand larger churches probably can go on mission trips and help more people. By the way even though our contribution is still about 2,000 per week we still have a food pantry for the homeless and/or people in need. We collect it on every second Sunday and if the kids bring canned goods we put on a puppet show for them. Hope this helped you or any church goer who needed ideas for how to get involved. Remember, its the little things that count......

Answer 3

Not all of the money collected in the church goes to "fancy buildings, lavish displays, and state of the art media systems" as you say. Some of it does, in fact, go to the less fortunate people all around the world. You should not go to church in order to tithe (give money). Rather you should go to learn more about your Heavenly Father. He is amazing, and he will become your best friend before you know it. Don't let money and the church get in your way of worshiping the Lord for who he is. Hope that helps. God bless you. :)

Answer 4

At most churches not all of the money collected goes toward the building fund only a certain percentage. It's kinda like home owner's dues when you own a condo/house, the money to fix things that break or update it has to come from somewhere. If a church is doing things God's way I would almost be certain that a lot of money that comes in does go toward helping out people that are less fortunate weather it be in the United States or somewhere else in the world. Just my thought, hope it helps!

Answer 5

The church I am a member in does have nice facilities...we have between 1500 and 2000 attendees a week (i think) and it is big and has a great media system.
Our church raised a million+ dollars last year for what we called the Mali project. The funds helped to build a women's hospital in Mali West Africa where twelve of every one hundred babies die in the first month of life, one of every four children who survive the critical first year are malnourished and one of every four children die before the age of five.
This year we are raising money for what we call the Year of the Child. Throughout 2007, our church is partnering with organizations in our city, China, El Salvador and Mali to restore joy and to comfort the cries of children. The initiative is Year of the Child: a promise to assist with education, an obligation to heighten awareness and a pledge to provide resources. Besides mission trips and volunteer hours, there is a financial goal of $500,000.
Besides these huge projects, we have several projects going on right within our city and church...including a ministry to help change the oil and do minor maintenance on cars for women who are single parents and less fortunate.
I could go on and on. There is room for both good facilities and the good works of God.
I hope that maybe you can bring some of these ideas up at your church or start a small ministry of your own! God Bless!

Answer 6

Judas asked Jesus the same thing. I will give you the same answer.
Mat 26:11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.

If a storm destroyed your town tonight. Who do you think would be there before day light? The Government?, The Atheist? The Muslims?

Right after we get there to help then the News Media will show up and will they ask.. "where was Buddha in all this?" No.. How about "Where was the Goddess and GOD in all this?" Nope. We will have to stop helping the people to explain that GOD is on the throne while the world is sitting at home drinking beer and mocking us.
That's cool though. It sort of makes following Jesus worth while. They did the same thing to him.

You see.. the world will always glorify the accomplishments its own and will always glorify the mistakes of GOD's children.

Answer 7

I personally don't. My church is pretty small and a bit on the humble side. We get quarterly financial reports, and I can see that the majority of the money that is for the church building goes to utilities and maintenance. (As a musician, I only WISH we had a new sound system.) My church also supports several outreach programs.

In in the USA, if anyone is concerned with how their collection money is being spent, they can designate the purpose of the gift. Legally, the chuch MUST use the money for that purpose and must be able to show proof that they did so.

Answer 8

You've clearly never been to my church. We use our money to directly help those in need. Among other things you should see our senior housing facility and our complex for homeless moms and children. We are putting lives back together. We take a wholistic approach and welcome them into our lives...not just our church. Oh, and you don't have to join our church to be in the program. Truly no strings attached.

And, yes, we have a beautiful facility. It's not the biggest, but it is wonderful. Our state of the art media system is to broadcast our Word across radio and television. This is at no cost to the listener/watcher. It's totally funded by us and we never ask for donations over the air or our website.

Stop stereotyping and accept that there are people out here who truly love the Lord, their church and the world.

PS: We also have a prison ministry, awesome youth ministry, clothing drives, food drives, couples ministry, singles ministry, senior's ministry, home ownership assistance, educational scholarships, etc. The list goes on and on. We do this year round, not just at specific times of the year! I know our work is being blessed because we are able to touch so many lives and we aren't even close to being the largest congregation in our area. Less money, but more accomplishments!!!

Answer 9

The local Rescue Mission here in Panama City, Florida exists in part due to the support of our church.

Our church has missionaries as well as chaplains that go into several prisons to share the gospel, and bring souls to Christ in the NW Fl. area.

Our church supports a place called Restoration House, which is a place for women to get off of the streets, off of drugs, and to salvation. This place also gives abused women and children a place to go to get away from abusive men in their lives.

Our church supports many other missions locally as well as in other parts of the world.

My point is that perhaps you need to find a church that truly loves God, and does things that make a positive impact in the lives of the people that come into contact with it.

Answer 10

Dude I'm sorry I'm not a church goer so I prob shouldnt be answering this. But I just had to comment what a great question this is. Your right I believe the same way. Thats why I dont go to church either. If I ever find one thats a part of the community and is out there reaching out to people instead of sitting in their comfortable pews, maybe I'll join that church. Nice question.

Answer 11

We don't, at least at my Parish.

Our building is 100 years old, the displays are kept to a minimum and "state of the art media" is not allowed in the Catholic Mass.

Our collection goes to general up-keep, the school, mission work and a whole host of other things, including helping the poor and those less fortunate. We also give a large portion to the Catholic Charities in the Diocese and they spread it around also.