Romans 13 and Revelation 13

[ohio jones]

I used to give 10% of my income to the church in the form of a check. I had a good income at the time. In every church I attended, they would ask me to sit on the church board or give me some sort of honorary position. I really thought it was because I was knowledgeable about the Bible that they would give me these honors. The real reason is that they saw my checks, with the amounts and my name on it. It was not in secret, as Christ said.

We have more people who give at least 10% than there are positions of leadership or honor available. And those who nominate people for the various offices do not know what each person gives, so that cannot influence them. I think that's typical for Mennonite churches.

[JohnH]

In our church the majority of people have some kind of church "job". I am not sure it is considered an honour, though.

As far as donations, the donation slot accepts cash. My kids drop a quarter, nickel, etc. in there each Sunday. Sometimes even a whole dollar bill. I guess they could file a tax return and deduct that.

[JohnHurt]

You can now deduct $1000 per person as a deduction even if you don’t itemize.

Most plain people can’t take advantage of this since most plain people have so many kids they don’t owe any taxes anyway.

That would be a good reason not to tell the IRS about your Christian charity.

If your Christian charity meets certain thresholds, it is unlawful not to file a proper return. If it is a church you don't have to file anything.

I don't think wilfully breaking the law is a good idea when there is no compelling reason to do so.

We are not breaking any man-made laws by not reporting our anonymous giving to the needy.
You just won't be able to take the tax deduction.

[JohnHurt]

I used to give 10% of my income to the church in the form of a check. I had a good income at the time. In every church I attended, they would ask me to sit on the church board or give me some sort of honorary position. I really thought it was because I was knowledgeable about the Bible that they would give me these honors. The real reason is that they saw my checks, with the amounts and my name on it. It was not in secret, as Christ said.

We have more people who give at least 10% than there are positions of leadership or honor available. And those who nominate people for the various offices do not know what each person gives, so that cannot influence them. I think that's typical for Mennonite churches.

I am sure there are good churches that do not look at who gives and who does not.
In these, they did.

My mistake was to pay with a check with my name on it.
I should have paid in cash in an envelope.

There were others that understood this same problem and one church had a donation box in the vestibule where you could donate anonymously.

When they "pass the plate" down the aisle, there is not a lot of privacy, and there is pressure to donate.

Do you have a donation box at your church for anonymous giving? Is that something Mennonites do?

[JohnH]

If your Christian charity meets certain thresholds, it is unlawful not to file a proper return. If it is a church you don't have to file anything.

I don't think wilfully breaking the law is a good idea when there is no compelling reason to do so.

We are not breaking any man-made laws by not reporting our anonymous giving to the needy.
You just won't be able to take the tax deduction.

If you are operating a non-profit that is not a church, you are required to file various returns.

If you are a legitimate church, then you don't need to.

Do you have a donation box at your church for anonymous giving? Is that something Mennonites do?

Most conservative Anabaptist churches have a box with a slot it in in the back to put cash or checks into. This is, realistically, something only old people do, or young children who are given a quarter or a dollar bill to drop in there. I try to remember to do this with my children each week.

Most members just mail a check in to the deacons.

If you have a strong need to be anonymous, you can use a donor advised fund like Fidelity Charitable which will mail the checks in on your behalf.

[ohio jones]

Do you have a donation box at your church for anonymous giving? Is that something Mennonites do?

Some churches do this; others pass the plate.

Most members just mail a check in to the deacons.

This is, realistically, something only old people do. Why bother with the expense of checks, envelopes, and stamps when you can simply put it in the offering box or plate at church?

If you have a strong need to be anonymous, you can use a donor advised fund like Fidelity Charitable which will mail the checks in on your behalf.

The checks I've seen from such funds all have the donor's name on them. If anonymity is an option, I haven't seen it utilized.

[JohnH]

This is, realistically, something only old people do. Why bother with the expense of checks, envelopes, and stamps when you can simply put it in the offering box or plate at church?

In a more conservative church such as my own, options like PayPal or credit card are not available, so younger people mail a check (or use their bank's bill pay service to do it for them).

The checks I've seen from such funds all have the donor's name on them. If anonymity is an option, I haven't seen it utilized.

It's an option to suppress listing the donor advisor's name.

[ohio jones]

This is, realistically, something only old people do. Why bother with the expense of checks, envelopes, and stamps when you can simply put it in the offering box or plate at church?

In a more conservative church such as my own, options like PayPal or credit card are not available, so younger people mail a check (or use their bank's bill pay service to do it for them).

In my somewhat less conservative church, PayPal is available but rarely utilized, mostly when someone is absent. None of our members or regular attenders has ever mailed a check that I can recall. Two people use their bank's bill pay service to send a check; their ages are 20s and 70s so it doesn't appear to be a generational thing.

I'm not sure it's helpful for either of us to extrapolate patterns beyond our own congregations.

[JohnH]

This is, realistically, something only old people do. Why bother with the expense of checks, envelopes, and stamps when you can simply put it in the offering box or plate at church?

In a more conservative church such as my own, options like PayPal or credit card are not available, so younger people mail a check (or use their bank's bill pay service to do it for them).

In my somewhat less conservative church, PayPal is available but rarely utilized, mostly when someone is absent. None of our members or regular attenders has ever mailed a check that I can recall. Two people use their bank's bill pay service to send a check; their ages are 20s and 70s so it doesn't appear to be a generational thing.

I'm not sure it's helpful for either of us to extrapolate patterns beyond our own congregations.

That's probably true. I would stand by my statement, though, that people can give anonymously in plain Anabaptist circles, but most don't bother. These days, most people don't care about a tax deduction either.

Unless I slide cash into the donation box, I would prefer not to be anonymous in case my check goes missing or something.

[ken_sylvania]

That's probably true. I would stand by my statement, though, that people can give anonymously in plain Anabaptist circles, but most don't bother. These days, most people don't care about a tax deduction either.

Unless I slide cash into the donation box, I would prefer not to be anonymous in case my check goes missing or something.

In my experience as secretary most of what we collected in the offering was either cash or checks in numbered envelopes. And those checks would normally be folded in half inside the envelope so the deacon wouldn't normally look to see who the check is from - just record it by donor number.
I wouldn't have a good way to know whether or not more than half of the attendees were putting something in the offering. But I would say less than 5% of donors are identifiable in the books.