Comments on: Charity being hacked.

By: Hearthrose

Wed, 16 Jul 2014 04:33:00 +0000

Our church takes a benevolence offering. When we need other stuff, we just ask, people leave it in a cart by the elevator. We don’t partner with the state. With Trader Joe’s? Yes. (We distribute the food they have left over as one of the food things – the other one is part of benevolence). But it’s a big church. (3000 members, 2000 or so show up regularly). We have the manpower, we should use it.

We are very careful – no ladies alone with gentlemen in our church, not for any reason. Learned our lessons from other churches doing faceplants.

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By: Looking Glass

Wed, 16 Jul 2014 01:24:00 +0000

At the functional level, “State” money, while useful, isn’t charity. It’s tax money extracted by force from others. That’s the rub that Churches haven’t found a good way to deal with for nearing 200 years. (The changes in the nature of Governments from the 1850s on put the Church in a very different position) That’s what causes problems before the reality of “who controls the purse strings?” comes up.

At the practical level, “State” money is also horribly inefficiently used, so the System will be gamed & abused by its users. This is how the Welfare State easily arose. The State can shove more money at a “problem” than a Church can ever give time & money to. The State also operates to make those that it “helps” dependent upon the “help” they give, as it serves their interests. That interest? The Church is a competitor for Souls. Something to never be forgotten.

For the Church to operate in this environment, it ends up being “partnerships” that are formed. You’ve got to be very careful about money accepted, but you can easily meet “with” agencies or government organizations and coordinate activities. It normally helps to have church members within that government organization as well. It’s always important to perform outreach to those in power.

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By: chrisgale

Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:02:00 +0000

One of the reasons for churches to do these things out of the office or a structure is because there is then backup — so if one of the deaconesses is working with someone who is ripping off or pressure is being put on some bloke can come in and help.

Or vice versa. Particularly, in these litigious days, women begging off elders… you need a witness in the room.

The bigger dingier is getting monies of the state of California ow whatever, and then having their bureaucrats telling you what ou can and cannot say. This is an error mainline churches incl. the Catholic fell into in NZ: the social agencies became funded by the state.

We are now losing those contacts, and it is probably for the best.

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By: Hearthrose

Tue, 15 Jul 2014 21:02:00 +0000

Our church runs a food distribution center, gives out other food as a part of the benevolence ministry (you have to sit and chat with an elder to get benevolence, and there’s a scale of help), has a prison ministry, we get people rides to church and to the hospital and whatnot as much as we can. There are things that semi-mega-churches can get done that smaller churches can’t get done. I’ve had to deal with users as part of my ministry, and it sucks. You don’t want to shoo off a potential child of God, but at the same time you can’t let them abuse what others truly need.

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