Lisa Metzger says its not the the extra children...

[duplessis3]

Our church only gives to members now. We have plenty of unemployed/underemployed members that need help. Not the person who has exhausted all other resources and finally gets to us. (Universalist is at the end. I bet the Apostolics get the most calls.)

[liltwinstar]

Because I'm a dork, let's see if a hypothetical church could support its unemployed members.

Let's say the church has 100 adult members composed of 50 families. The average income for each family is $50k/year. Let's further assume that these are large fundie families where the mother does not work and that it takes all $50k to feed the children and pay rent/mortgage and provide super basic medical care. In California (where I live), the unemployment rate is about 12%, so let's say that's true in the church as well - 6 families are unemployed with no income. Often Protestant churches teach that one should tithe 10% of one's gross income. So, we have 50 families, 6 of which have no income. Thus, 44 families are able to pay tithe of $5000/year, for a total income to the church of $220,000/year.

The church has to pay the pastor, right? So let's say his salary is $50k/year as well. The church needs a building, to keep the lights on, etc - so let's say the church pays $1500/mo for rent and utilities - equaling $18,000/year (I'm just pulling these numbers out of my ass; I suspect that my figures for rent and such are laughably low).

So, pastor's salary plus my rent/utility figures equals $68,000/year. The church brings in $220,000/year from the tithes of the families who still have an income. That means $152,000 is available to help the families without income. There are six of those families, so (in theory), they could each get about $25,000/year in assistance. Given that the other families live on $50k/year, that means the unemployed families have to work with half of what they need. Given my hypothetical situation, these families would not be able to survive on just the charity of the church - plus the church would have to be ok with giving away 70% of its income. I have to say, I doubt that most churches do that.

So, basically, if church charity was your only option in hard times, you'd be screwed.