why is it churches?????

Question

are always asking for money but yet the pasture \ preacher what ever he is, is driving around in a benz or bmw. the amount of money all churches bring in tax free every yr if they payed taxes on it they could really do some good instead of being tax shelters. anyone agree?

Answer 1

I agree 100%! I think that it's ridiculous that the Catholic church, just for one example, expects their faithful to give, give, give when they're sitting on vast piles of gold and art and real estate. Churches should be taxed just like any other business.

Answer 2

It's pastor. A pasture is a field where the sheep graze.

Churches, and let's include all conventional organized religions, are tax exempt organizations and do much of the same types of things that secular tax exempt organizations do along with dispensing spiritual teaching. They do so for a lot less than what would be commercial rates. Society in general has decided that the benefits they provide more than offset what they would pay in taxes. If you deducted their expenses from income, there would not be a whole lot of profit.

Except for a few flamboyant exceptions, you will find that most church pastors earn about the same amount as a school teacher and pay income tax on their earnings. One of the pastors of my church does drive a BMW but he works full time at an outside job and donates his pastor's salary back to the church.

Answer 3

I think that you would find that the number of pastors driving around in Benz's or BMW's is very small.

Most of them lead very modest lives.

There are a few, however, that are in it for the money. I would guess that they are the pastors at the "Mega Churches" that have sprung up recently. One Mega Church here in Minneapolis owns a helicopter and a vacation home in Florida for the pastor. He obviously loves money a whole lot more than he loves God.