Senate to investigate finances of selected televangelists.

[Kevin]

I think that the purpose of the law is that many religious organizations in the past concerned themselves primarily with charitable works. As that has become less and less the case, I think it's time that Congress revisited that part of the Tax Code.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I think that the purpose of the law is that many religious organizations in the past concerned themselves primarily with charitable works. As that has become less and less the case, I think it's time that Congress revisited that part of the Tax Code.

I think that's a very broad generalization over the entire category of "religion". I would say that there are many religions/sects/denominations who still primarily focus on charity, and to lump them in the same category as those who don't is frankly insulting.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

I think that's a very broad generalization over the entire category of "religion". I would say that there are many religions/sects/denominations who still primarily focus on charity, and to lump them in the same category as those who don't is frankly insulting.

I think the tax code can be adjusted to accommodate those sorts or religions, maybe.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I think the tax code can be adjusted to accommodate those sorts or religions, maybe.

Maybe they can take a clue from GLOs and have each org file a Service Hours Completed sheet and their taxes can be based on the number of service hours they do.


...tounge firmly in cheek.

[scbelle]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I think that the purpose of the law is that many religious organizations in the past concerned themselves primarily with charitable works. As that has become less and less the case, I think it's time that Congress revisited that part of the Tax Code.

Yeah, I wouldn't exactly say that many religious organizations have moved from doing charitable works. The problem is that TV "evangelists" (I use this term extremely loosely) have found a way to live the luxe lifestyle by soliciting donations in the name of God. That totally sucks, and those outfits should not benefit from tax-exempt status. No wonder nonbelievers have disdain for Christianity (because that's probably 98% of televangelists)! If this is the crap they see, I'd have questions, too.

[Kevin]

It's not just TV evangelists. Down here and around the South, there are lots of megachurches where the pastors live pretty high on the hog as well.

[scbelle]

I know very well the lifestyles of those in megachurches, and of some churches in the south. My dad is a minister, but we're Presbyterian, and one of our tenets handed down by way of Calvin is MODERATION. So with that, dad doesn't ask for a salary that is way over and above his needs. I don't know about other denominations, but to me, it would seem that at least with the megachurches, the people filling the offering plate at least know what they're getting. When you just see someone on TV, who knows where the money goes. There is really no oversight, which is why I think the committee looking into the finances of some televangelists is a great thing.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Kevin

It's not just TV evangelists. Down here and around the South, there are lots of megachurches where the pastors live pretty high on the hog as well.

This is totally for the sake of argument, but even a church is a business, and in the American Capitalist society, shouldn't a pastor who takes care of a church of 10,000 earn significantly more than a pastor who takes care of a church of 100? They're still people who do a job and expect to be fairly compensated for what they do. If the VP of Finance of Google was making the same amount of money as the VP of Finance of the 30 person Corp. in the next town over, that person would certainly feel slighted.

[scbelle]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

This is totally for the sake of argument, but even a church is a business, and in the American Capitalist society, shouldn't a pastor who takes care of a church of 10,000 earn significantly more than a pastor who takes care of a church of 100? They're still people who do a job and expect to be fairly compensated for what they do. If the VP of Finance of Google was making the same amount of money as the VP of Finance of the 30 person Corp. in the next town over, that person would certainly feel slighted.

That's just basic math. When my dad first started preaching, he was the head pastor of a church of maybe 80 members. Needless to say at that point in time, we were really, really poor. But he was there for 7 years, grew the church to 600 members, and as the budget grew, so did his salary. Of course, my dad is the uber-responsible type and works 70 hours a week, so the more members he had to take care of, and the more members contributed in the offering, naturally, the more money my dad made. What irks me to no end is some of the pastors that come into a church and expect to make a lot of money because there are a lot of members (and contributions) that can help them live a lavish lifestyle, all the while, not doing much more than being the face of the church, and maybe hammering out a 10 minute message every week. That is not what ministry is about. If a pastor of a megachurch works as hard as my dad, then I'd say he absolutely deserves a high salary, and whatever he wants to do with his money is his business. But I have to wonder what that pastor has gotten out of the Gospel, if he's buying marble commodes and french clocks... What would Jesus do with a Lexus?

[SWTXBelle]

Let me just add - the pastors of the megachurches have help - for example, Joel Osteen only preaches. He does not meet with his parishoners - he has "assistants "who do that. Pastors of smaller churches may very well be doing more pastoral work for far less money than those of megachurces with dozens of staff members.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Pastors of smaller churches may very well be doing more pastoral work for far less money than those of megachurces with dozens of staff members.

I totally understand that. My pastor has a church that's grown from 300 to 600 in 3 years, and he's had to do things like Stephan Ministers and let the Youth & Family Minister help him out, because he's just completely overwhelmed. We're in process of calling a part time visiting minister, because our pastor is just too stretched to get to everyone.