Yppej
4-17-17, 9:09pm
I have been trying to determine what is an appropriate level of support for the religious services I attend and am curious what others do. Percentage of income? Fixed dollar amount?
The building, which is owned, is old (1880's) and probably costs a lot to heat. Members do repairs on a volunteer basis. Nuns run the program so there are no salaries per se, but they do have very basic living expenses. I have seen one woman donating big bags of rice to them.
Control is at the local level, nothing coming from or going to a national organization, though they have clergy exchanges/retreats with travel expenses. I do not know what their budget is, and could ask but communication is challenging due to a language barrier.
English services draw about two dozen people and I do not know about the Vietnamese services. The area is socioeconomically challenged, and I do not imagine there are any large donors.
Service expenses are minimal for things like incense and tea. Donations are accepted but never solicited. This is a huge difference from my faith of origin, which frequently expressed in great detail what they needed and that people should give, and which supported clergy paid middle class salaries and a large international hierarchy as well as schools, missons, hospitals, etc. So my familiar frame of reference is missing.
The building, which is owned, is old (1880's) and probably costs a lot to heat. Members do repairs on a volunteer basis. Nuns run the program so there are no salaries per se, but they do have very basic living expenses. I have seen one woman donating big bags of rice to them.
Control is at the local level, nothing coming from or going to a national organization, though they have clergy exchanges/retreats with travel expenses. I do not know what their budget is, and could ask but communication is challenging due to a language barrier.
English services draw about two dozen people and I do not know about the Vietnamese services. The area is socioeconomically challenged, and I do not imagine there are any large donors.
Service expenses are minimal for things like incense and tea. Donations are accepted but never solicited. This is a huge difference from my faith of origin, which frequently expressed in great detail what they needed and that people should give, and which supported clergy paid middle class salaries and a large international hierarchy as well as schools, missons, hospitals, etc. So my familiar frame of reference is missing.