Pledge Cards

We're not talking about a man's gift to God. We're talking about a man's gift to the church.

Churches need to know what to expect as far as planned giving over the nest year. Otherwise, how can they operate? I have no problem with plege cards or commitment cards. In fact, for me, they help me to remain committed. If I've committed to giving, say, $2000 to the church over the next year, and make the statement formally via a pledge card, then I will hold myself accountable to the commitment to doing so.

 

Churches asking for and receiving pledge cards should not consider a pledge to be "money in the bank" and should budget accordingly. They can use them as an estimate with the expectation that it could be lower or higher depending on unexpected circumstances.

About the treasurer's wife, your thoughts about her are purely speculation at this point. If she confronts you, you have a ready response. I wouldn't worry about what you think she thinks.

 

I don't think I have ever signed a pledge card.

I think though that when people sign a pledge card that they really intend to give that specified amount. The problem is that one can experience unforeseen expenses during the year and possibly do not have the money to give.

Further, TexasSKy, don't fall into the trap of defending your giving practices. You are correct it is no ones business.

Just recently, the woman who was counting the money in my Sunday School Class let me know in a subtle way that she had given more than I had. I was tempted to fall into her trap and play her little game, but thought better of it. She really has no idea how much my husband I give. We give our tithe and more.

A pledge card is not going to cause me to give more or less. The cards may be necessary for projection of the Budget or to show a bank that the church supports a certain project.

 

Considering I didn't get saved until after 1980, I couldn't tell ya

But seriously, there are a lot of things the church does now that it didn't do before. "We always done it that way" is usually not sufficient. But I don't think pledge cards are mandatory or anything like that. I think they're a good tool that the church is welcome to use if it is beneficial.

A financial commitment to the church is a commitment to God, but not every commitment to God is a commitment to the church. I've mentioned a few times that I'm a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. I also support them financially. It's my commitment to God, but not to the church.

Let's face it, we humans are lousy at making reall commitments. Making "private" commitments typically fail, because of the lack of acountablity. Just look at all the failed New Year's resolutions. We sinful humans simply don't keep commitments that lack accountability. Sad, but true.

No, I don't distinguish. But, presuming the tithe to be a scripturally permissible principle (some will argue that it's not), the tither is to give the tithe to God. That doesn't mean give the tithe to the church. A person who tithes is free to give half of the tithe to the church, and, say, to Samaritan's purse, or the Red Cross, or Boy Scounts, or whatever other organization that the giver feels is acting in a Godly manner and worthy of the resources.

That being said, I believe that every person should financially support the church they attend, and in addition to financially, support it with time and prayers. And, ultimately, how much a person gives, and to whom they give, is no one's business but the giver's.

 

True enough, the tithe belongs to God. However the storehouse for the tithe in the Church age is the local church. While Paul may be speaking in I Cor 16 about giving beyond the tithe he surely makes it clear that the believer's giving to God goes through the church. Samaritan's Purse, Red Cross and the Boy Scouts may be worthy organizations, but they do not qualify as the place for the tithe. Make your gifts to them an offering above the tithe.

 

I'm not scripturally convinced that the storehouse is the church.

 

never signed a pledge card, never saw a need for one, never was really offered a good (solid biblical) reason for it.

I didn't know what pledge cards were until i started attending a baptist church. heck, we didn't even have envelopes. a sack came around at the end of the worship service and money was put in.

 

pledge cards at our church are called missions cards. we support alot of missionaries and even the little kids have missions cards. before i sign my card i always pray to God a few days before we sign the cards about what He wants me to give. Whatever He lays on my heart i give.it doesnt matter how much you give, but whatever God has laid upon your heart. if your only giving more to impress people then its just like a competition. its God's money and He can do anything he wants with it.

 

I'm still looking for a Levite to give the tithe to.

 

Let's not hijack this thread to make it about tithing. Note that I said, "presuming the tithe to be a scripturally permissible principle (some will argue that it's not)...".

 

I have not signed a pledge card (regardless of what the church or entity chooses to call it) for many years. My reason is that I once did sign such a card for an organization that I did, and do, consider a positive Christian mission. It was really for a 'small' amount, but by nothing more than simple negligence I did not keep that 'commitment.' I thought about it and considered the words of Jesus from Matthew 5-- "Do not swear at all...let your 'yes' be yes and your 'no' be no; for anything more than these comes of evil." While most would probably make a fine distinction that "pledge" or "commit" do not mean swear, it is still true that a pledge is more than a "Yes, I'll do that."

Obviously churches seem to have little reservation about requiring something more than yes or no, regardless of what Jesus said, but I have not been persuaded to sign any such cards for something like 20 years now.

 

I see nothing wrong with pledge cards. That being said, the church should realize that many of these pledges will fall through.

 

I believe that pledge cards are a tool for extorting money from the congregation.

I do not believe that churches should budget their money. Instead, they need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and what He is telling them to do. And I am writing this from the perspective of a former pastor who learned from personal experience that what God orders, God pays for—regardless of the churches “budget.”

What other members of the congregation think about you is not nearly as important as what God thinks about you. Be obedient to God and let God deal with the busybodies.

 

(Stand by while this thread is hijacked.)

Craigbythesea,

I find your comment about not budgeting money to be interesting. I believe there is a place for a budget because things like electricity, heat, a/c, etc. need paid for and a budget is a very useful tool for spending the money given to the church. I agree with you about being sensitive to the Spirit, and I think that sensitivity can be applied in the budgeting process, as well as for spending money outside of what's been budgeted as the need arises.

(returning to your regularly scheduled unhijacked thread)

I have never signed a pledge card and am not about to start to now. Craigbythesea's last comment pretty sums it up for me as well.

 

If a church does not budget, it is not being responsible. If it is not being responsible, it's being a poor manager of the resources. Doesn't sound very scriptural.