How would you feel if your church or religious meeting place didn't have a charity fund for the needy?

If you follow Jesus you will be compelled to try to help the needy. If you are not helping the needy, you have a problem.

NOTE: I know it sounds harsh but, I would even say that you may not even be a follower of Jesus !

Mattew 25

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, [6] you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Dear Serena,

I would "feel" first and foremost that I should get one started.

It doesn't take too much to do that. For the past couple of years I've been putting an envelope with a note telling the pastor to give the enclosed grocery store gift card to someone in need. Since my nondenominational church does not pass the offering plate I can easily put the envelope in the plate when nobody is looking. The pastor hasn't even figured out who is providing the cards.

In order to be good stewards of the gifts we receive from the LORD we do have to know where the money goes. If we don't hold the people in charge of the money accountable then we are giving them an open invitation to misuse. I think that could be called contributory negligence. Afterall "nice people" can do really bad things.

My church is very small but we help others in the community by serving at a soup kitchen on a monthly basis and we help other causes as we hear about them.

I agree with Worker4IAM but I don't think it is too harsh to say that if a church is NOT they are not following Jesus.

For His glory,

JOYfilled

My first thought on this question was no, no government body should have that right, but you go on to mention public funding. If the charities want to be funded from the public purse they should abide by the laws which prevent discrimination. The charity you work for may only require a sympathetic attitude to the work that charity is doing, but is that always the case do you think? It is unhelpful to say the SE only wants people of another or no religious persuasion. Using words like 'foist' is also rather foolish. It seems to me they are merely saying that the charity cannot discriminate against non-religious people or those of a different faith.

I would really question it. I think that a huge part of a successful church is outreach ministry. A church should be doing as much as it can to help anyone that reaches out for help, not just a select few. As a member of the church you should have every right to question where the money is going and maybe even view financial records. If they tell you they have people that help the ones in need ask them to speak to those people. If thy won't let you or those people don't answer your questions to your satisfaction I would seriously consider reporting the church. There is nothing worse than when a church/person/people use God as a front to take advantage of people. Good for you for questioning what is going on. Good luck.

Accountability to the congregation is necessary for any church. The world can not be able to ask a question on how anything is being done in the church that can not be backed up by scripture. The Bible says do away with secret thins and God is no respecter of person so catering th the wealthy must not be done.

I am LDS. Not only do we have a charity fund, but some tithes also go into charity funds. Last year we spent $900,000,000 almost 1 Billion on food for the poor in Africa. It is a special mix of various foods that has vitamins and will support life. Water wells in Africa, Vacinations all over the world to wipe out disease ,Thousands of Wheel chairs, thousands and thousands of glasses, so people can see. Every world disaster is contributed to. Go to LDS. Org and look under Welfare, and you can read about all the programs.

Our church doesn't have a designated fund for the "needy", it gives money to people that have a need and they don't have to ask for it either. If you aren't allowed to see "the books" or at least get answers, find another place. Our church gives money to people in and out of the church.

The people are the church, not the building, not the people that run it. If your church doesn't help the needy, then start a group in your church that does. I can't see how any church would object to starting something like that, if they do, it isn't in keeping with God's wishes and I'd find another church to hang around with. My church (Catholic) has collections all the time for local food banks, foreign missions, health concerns, and works to help the members, the local community and the world.

Something would be VERY wrong if my church suddenly changed.

Since 1985, we have donated over $900 million in cash and goods to feed, clothe, educate, and heal the poor and needy of ALL RELIGIONS throughout the world.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/statistica...

We also don't mind getting our hands dirty in clean up efforts after natural disasters like hurricanes Katrina and Rita, or mudslides or floods. Just this past weekend we were helping victims of the earthquake in Nevada repair their homes - regardless of what religion they were.

And it helps that ON ONE gets paid for the service they do. The church is run completely by volunteers. 100% of tithing money goes for buildings, utilities and to the poor and needy. Yes, 100%. No preachers to pay.

I couldn't be part of a church that wasn't responsible in reporting its finances to the congregation and actively helping others.

Caring for the poor and needy was one of the hallmarks of the early church; compassion and giving are all through both testaments of the Bible. A church that isn't actively ministering to both members and non-members is not the church for me.

Dear one, It really doesn't matter which organization or church takes on this challange. I would contribute and do contribute to several out there. I even contribute to one on the Internet to a Mission who is building homes/shelters in India and Cambodia as we speak. I give and never look back, because I figure if they're steeling any of the proceeds or abusing it in any manner, God will deal with them harshly later on!