[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by The Lemon

I suppose i see the similarity between business structure in terms of accountability and fiscal responsibility and the church...where I disagree is modeling a church after secular business practices. Business do provide goods and services for a price, and they exist to do one thing...make a profit.

I am not even going to get into the differences between Tithes and free will offerings, as that has been beaten to death. We should be responsible to give both to one another and to those who honor is due...that said, there is a very fine line between building Gods kingdom and building a personal kingdom using donations from hard working people to live off of, but I digress.

I agree with you from the point of view that a church should be non-profit, although even non-profit organizations pay out salaries to employees.

This thread is going off on a tangent, but I will say this: some pastors accumulate wealth because they take too much of what is given; others accumulate wealth because they are good stewards of what they are given and/or because they have earned money from private efforts. Those who fall into the latter category should be respected for their stewardship, not criticized for it.

Our pastor takes a far-too-modest-salary (IMO) and has to supplement by working outside jobs. I really dislike that, because I know he would be more productive for the church and community if he didn't have to work the extra jobs. When a church asks a pastor to come and work for them, I don't see the problem with the church offering compensation. A pastor is ultimately still a man who needs to provide for his family, first and foremost. I fail to see how working for the church and earning a living should be mutually exclusive.