Keep in mind this was originally posted 7/20/09 ... a long time ago and I had a lot more energy to be feisty. Oh, and I was pregnant.
I always hear people complaining about churches being money-hungry. But do they consider what it takes to actually run a church? They need money to pay their staff, pay for the air conditioning, someone to mow the grass, fix the parking lot, trim the bushes, mow, clean it, you name it.
Here in Overland Park, Kansas we have churches that are always struggling, like mine, for things like paying the bills, etc. BUT then they do a capital campaign to raise like 3 million dollars for crap they don't even need, like new carpet. The carpet is FINE! Fix the freaking front walk that I see kids falling down on and getting bloody on every week! Fix the air conditioning at the school first, people, and do it preferably BEFORE school starts in August!
Churches, like schools (don't get me started on that one), need to run themselves like we have to run our homes … in a thrifty manner, wasting as little as possible and recycling as much as possible for money.
Then there are churches just a few miles away that are RICH RICH RICH ... rolling in it. Why can't they all spread it out? Take what they NEED and put the rest in a kitty to share ... and to help parishioners out when they need it (job loss, health issues, fire).
What do you think about a big Catholic pot o’ money that can be put to good use? But then you have the problem of finding someone trustworthy to run the account. Those people are among us, but there are too many who would have trouble actually doing the TRUSTING.
Updated 11/5/18: We've moved since I posted this and we go to a church in Missouri that seems to know how to run itself very well. They take donations of items and sell them throughout the year at a Christmas shop and a garage sale. My family teaches Confirmation because we can't tithe right now. People at church help clean bathrooms, the Confirmation kids will rake leaves to help pay for their Confirmation workbooks, others chip in to clean up, paint, etc. It's a real community that runs in a frugal and impressive way.
