Florida Church Sends $1,000 ‘Delinquency Notice’

[doggie]

nothing like a pay to pray church

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/07/15 ... agesvideo/

The pastor of a Florida church sent a disgusting letter reminding a single mom that if she doesn’t fork over more than $1,000 a year, she will no longer be a member. Candace Petterson has been attending services at Greater Mount Moriah Primitive Baptist Church for six months, and was shocked when she received a letter demanding that she contribute $50 a month for the benefit of being a member, along with numerous other fees, including a hefty $250 payment for the church’s anniversary.

“In sending this letter, it is with much regret,†wrote Assistant Administrator Sister Lareda Spencer. “You are currently delinquent in your financial support.â€

[salex]

We attended a relatively liberal Presbyterian church for a few years. Over time, after the woman who was the associate minister left to work in another town, we found that her replacement was just not a good fit for us. We kept going for another year or so, but found them ever more irritating.

We were (and are) self employed and our income was and is incredibly variable, so when they asked the membership to fill out a pledge card, i sent it in with zero pledge and a note saying that I could not pledge a certain amount as I had no idea what my income would be, but would give through the course of the year. I had pegged a reasonably large sum as an extra donation one year, but when I found myself rolling my eyes at the sermons week after week, we used that money to fund a small scholarship at a local community college and just gave weekly donations. We also moved and the church was a longer drive and we took that opportunity to stop attending at all.

We were called once to see if we were ok-- not sick or injured or in need of help from the church spiritually. We said no, we were fine, but time and distance (I didn't mention the new lousy preacher)

We also got 3 or 4 dunning notices and calls about our "financial commitment and pledge." I finally told one of the guys who called that I had pledged zero and they should just quit calling.

But, despite some good experiences at that church, it soon became clear that my spiritual life was worth one call, but their financial life was worth several letters and calls.

Amen and Amen.

[nokidsmom]

Last church that Mr. No attended (this was prior to our marriage) he had pledged a certain amount per week as he was working at the time. Then he returned to college full time and asked to alter his pledge to zero as he was in school. They would not do it but he stopped anyway because he simply didn't have the money to spare. They billed him for the money which he ignored because he didn't have the money to spare. That was one reason of the reasons he quit going, I won't get into the others but suffice it to say it was skeevy.

Another story was involving Mr. No's grandparents. They were paid a visit from the pastor of their church for what they thought was a social visit. No. The purpose was to get them to agree to give their money to the church after their deaths. They never went back after that.

[doggie]

Seems they got lesions from Mormon churches

[Free2BeMe]

Seems they got lesions from Mormon churches

That has to be an autocorrect, but it's really funny.

[Firiel]

This is common practice in LDS churches, which is where this letter came from.

EDIT: That letter is NOT from the Baptist church the article says it's from. Baptist churches do NOT refer to their churches as "wards."

EDIT EDIT: The letter-head says it's from a Baptist church, but my point above stands. I don't know what is going on here-- "wards" and calling people "brother" and "sister" is totally an LDS thing.

[busdrivingmom]

This is ridiculous. Donations to churches should be because you want to/ can donate, not billed or required to keep being a member. I attend a Catholic church in a wealthier area. My husband and I can only afford to give $20 a month right now and we have never, ever been harassed about it like this letter. We were not billed for the months we just could not make a donation. Occasionally we do receive letters from our church asking if we could give more, but if not, they get it.

[ADoyle90815]

This is common practice in LDS churches, which is where this letter came from.

EDIT: That letter is NOT from the Baptist church the article says it's from. Baptist churches do NOT refer to their churches as "wards."

EDIT EDIT: The letter-head says it's from a Baptist church, but my point above stands. I don't know what is going on here-- "wards" and calling people "brother" and "sister" is totally an LDS thing.

Exactly. This sounds like something the Mormon church does, as it really is a pay to pray organization. They also harass those who quit going to church for whatever reason, despite their claims that former members "can't leave the church alone." The opposite is true, people wish they could just leave the church, but the church won't leave THEM alone.

[Walking Cat Bed]

I'd stopped attending a church altogether and was "lovingly confronted" about my lack of tithing.

Not my lack of attendance. My lack of tithing.

[Firiel]

Exactly. This sounds like something the Mormon church does, as it really is a pay to pray organization. They also harass those who quit going to church for whatever reason, despite their claims that former members "can't leave the church alone." The opposite is true, people wish they could just leave the church, but the church won't leave THEM alone.

After a few news stories recently where faithful members of the LDS church were ex-communicated for their beliefs/political positions, someone shared with me this wonderful insight about the religion: If you want to leave, they won't let you. If you want to stay, they force you out.

[tehfanglyfish]

The Mister and I went to a Unitarian Universalist church once because even though we're atheists, we were looking for community. The service was ok and the greeter person directed us to their website to learn more. We made it to the donation section which basically said that if you weren't making regular donations, someone from the church would visit you at home and that you really shouldn't refuse their visit. Our finances were shaky at the time so we never went back. I know that it takes money to keep the lights on but apparently even super-liberal congregations care more about money than the support and well-being of their members.

[RosyDaisy]

Tithing is not mandatory at my church. We believe in free will. A single mom is someone who may need help not condemnation.

[Firiel]

The Mister and I went to a Unitarian Universalist church once because even though we're atheists, we were looking for community. The service was ok and the greeter person directed us to their website to learn more. We made it to the donation section which basically said that if you weren't making regular donations, someone from the church would visit you at home and that you really shouldn't refuse their visit. Our finances were shaky at the time so we never went back. I know that it takes money to keep the lights on but apparently even super-liberal congregations care more about money than the support and well-being of their members.

Wow, that's surprising to me about that happening at a UU church!

I've actually been a pastor's wife, and I've been the wife of a pastor who was laid off because they simply weren't getting enough money coming in. So I have sympathy for churches trying to raise money. It's hard. I have no problem with pastors mentioning money from the pulpit (church members should know when the staff is not getting paid their full (modest) salaries because there isn't enough money coming in). I very much think that people who are a part of a church should support it financially once they have found a place within the community if they are financially able to. It's a service that is being provided to you at no cost, so if you can, you should help support it (just like people who listen to public radio should support it if they can). And despite that, I'm completely against mandatory tithing or approaching members directly about a lack of tithing. You don't know what the someone's finances are like. You don't know where their money is going. Hell, you don't even know if they actually feel a benefit from attending your church. (And even if you could know these things, it's still not really any of your damn business, and you just have to accept that some people will use a free service without supporting it even though they could with no real trouble... like I did with public radio for a few years :embarrassed: .)

[VelociRapture]

I. . . have no words for this. First time for everything I guess. :lol:

This is ridiculous. Donations to churches should be because you want to/ can donate, not billed or required to keep being a member. I attend a Catholic church in a wealthier area. My husband and I can only afford to give $20 a month right now and we have never, ever been harassed about it like this letter. We were not billed for the months we just could not make a donation. Occasionally we do receive letters from our church asking if we could give more, but if not, they get it.

My Fiance's family struggled financially for a long time when he and his older brother were young. They lived in a big city and attended a Catholic Church there - the people who ran the place went out of their way to try to guilt and shame his parents into giving them more money. Luckily, my In-laws are rather strong-willed people and prioritized feeding their children over giving money to the greedy bastards. The whole experience really turned them off to organized religion though.

On the other hand, I had a Great-Uncle who was a Catholic Priest over 50 years - you honestly couldn't have asked for a better Priest or Uncle. At his funeral earlier this year, there were hundreds of people who came by to tell us how loved he was and what an important role he played in their lives - even people who had moved out of his Parish years earlier came by! Needless to say, not once did I ever hear someone mention that he constantly asked for money - it was all about how loving he was and how he loved to wear socks in his favorite baseball teams colors during services. :lol:

[tehfanglyfish]

Wow, that's surprising to me about that happening at a UU church!

I've actually been a pastor's wife, and I've been the wife of a pastor who was laid off because they simply weren't getting enough money coming in. So I have sympathy for churches trying to raise money. It's hard. I have no problem with pastors mentioning money from the pulpit (church members should know when the staff is not getting paid their full (modest) salaries because there isn't enough money coming in). I very much think that people who are a part of a church should support it financially once they have found a place within the community if they are financially able to. It's a service that is being provided to you at no cost, so if you can, you should help support it (just like people who listen to public radio should support it if they can). And despite that, I'm completely against mandatory tithing or approaching members directly about a lack of tithing. You don't know what the someone's finances are like. You don't know where their money is going. Hell, you don't even know if they actually feel a benefit from attending your church. (And even if you could know these things, it's still not really any of your damn business, and you just have to accept that some people will use a free service without supporting it even though they could with no real trouble... like I did with public radio for a few years :embarrassed: .)

And we totally understood the need for cash to keep things running. The section on the website about people coming to visit you at home to collect money just weirded us out. And there were details of our finances that I wouldn't get into with my mother or my best friend, much less a collections committee.

Out of curiosity, I looked at their website again today. The visiting delegation is no longer mentioned and it looks like they have a new minister. Maybe the new leadership realized that have a collections squad was off-putting.

[Firiel]

And we totally understood the need for cash to keep things running. The section on the website about people coming to visit you at home to collect money just weirded us out. And there were details of our finances that I wouldn't get into with my mother or my best friend, much less a collections committee.

Out of curiosity, I looked at their website again today. The visiting delegation is no longer mentioned and it looks like they have a new minister. Maybe the new leadership realized that have a collections squad was off-putting.

Oh, it's very weird! Sorry if my post sounded like it was directed at you! I just kind of used your post as a jumping off point because I also wanted to comment how strange that seemed coming from a UU church. :)

[FundieliciousTaterTot]

My friend's church asked everyone to give $150/family for the pastor & pastor's wife's birthday present

Classless

[VaSportsMom]

This is common practice in LDS churches, which is where this letter came from.

EDIT: That letter is NOT from the Baptist church the article says it's from. Baptist churches do NOT refer to their churches as "wards."

EDIT EDIT: The letter-head says it's from a Baptist church, but my point above stands. I don't know what is going on here-- "wards" and calling people "brother" and "sister" is totally an LDS thing.

I've never heard them use the term ward but "brother" and "sister" is really common here amongst the Baptists.

[gustava]

Many Jewish synagogues/temples require $, especially for High Holy Day attendance.

[Firiel]

I've never heard them use the term ward but "brother" and "sister" is really common here amongst the Baptists.

"Brother" and "sister" is more denominationally neutral, but that paired with "ward" screams LDS. It's just weird, is all. Not enough to really make me doubt the story, but... I'm just confused! :think:

[VaSportsMom]

"Brother" and "sister" is more denominationally neutral, but that paired with "ward" screams LDS. It's just weird, is all. Not enough to really make me doubt the story, but... I'm just confused! :think:

Me too. I have a lot of family members that are Baptist and I've never heard any of them use "ward" in reference to their church. Curious.

[MamaJunebug]

I get the impression that the church has borrowed "ward" from the LDS along with the devotion to work as a doctrine of growth, and also a set plan if donations.

Ages ago I looked into LDS doctrine and practice (pre-Internet! It was a very paper-y exercise) and at that time, I learned that some LDS congregations (I believe ward = congregation but am not certain) would ask for members' 1040 firms and figure the 10% tithe from that.

Sounds like the Baptist church discussed here has opted for a schedule of donations that doesn't necessarily rely on percentages but has members to that.

"Elder" as a leadership title is pretty uniform across a lot of denominations and "presidents" in the LDS are *everywhere.* FWIW, not necessarily related to the church in this topic.

[Jana814]

Many Jewish synagogues/temples require $, especially for High Holy Day attendance.

Yes they do!! Mine also has private security during the holidays so some of the money goes to paying them also.

[SoSoNosy]

I attend a Southern Baptist Church, and every Sunday when it's time to pass the collection plates, the pastor emphasizes several times that any offering is absolutely voluntary. That there is NO obligation whatsoever, to put anything in that plate; "giving back to The Lord" is according to what is in your heart and your ability. Yes, there are a couple of times each year that pledges are requested, but they are for certain mission organizations, or the Benevolent Fund (for needy members), not the church we are attending. We would never receive a bill of any kind.

editing... I looked at that church's Facebook page. It's a "Primitive Baptist Church", not associated with the SBC. Primitive Baptist Churches apparently do things a bit differently.

[Jana814]

Soo wrong that this church did this to her!!