charity wrote:Moniker wrote:Charity, what do you think of LDS that say all other Christians (not LDS) are out to line their pockets and the preachers want to herd more sheep into their Churches 'cause they want more moolah? IT IS RIDICULOUS! The stereotypes that some continue to perpetuate against those outside their Church are just as ridiculous as those that call LDS Satanic.
I don't know why you are addressing this to me. I think a lot of LDS say things that I don't agree with. Unlike a popular stereotype, we aren't all a flock of sheep without an independent thought.
We do wonder a little bit about pastors who get more salary as they get more members. We contrast that to our bishops who don't get paid a penny. And we certainly wonder even more about televangelists and the mega churches. But I would think there are ridiculous stereotypes on both sides.
But again, I wonder why you singled me out for this?
I would have to say that my impression of televangelists is that of desire for personal gain. We have seen, all too often, the public demise of televangelists and the exposure of their finances not to think that personal gain at some point, becomes the driving force.
I can't speak to mega churches though I am familiar with them, I have never been part of a mega church congregation. My impression of our local mega churches is that while they do take in huge amounts of tithes and offerings, they also operate extensive ministries and outreach programs. I don't know that there are mega personal gains enough to generalize in that way. Certainly there are crackpots in some mega churches. Ted Haggard being a case in point.
Now, I can speak to the average SB church for which I have years of experience. The budget in the SB church is put together and voted on by the membership on an annual basis and all financial matters are fully transparent. So far as the pastor is concerned, I do know that my former pastor's income was miniscule for someone with a PhD. His contract included health insurance, some educational benefits, a family dwelling (I lived in a better house than they did, their house was an old 80's style stick house, nothing remotely fancy about that) they owned one good family car and one beater car. When the children were younger, the pastor's wife shopped for their clothing at Goodwill. While he always had some nice suits (you could count the number on one hand) his wife and children attended church in Goodwill clothing. During the time if his continuing education toward his PhD, the church had to pay an extra salary to another preacher to take his place.
My point is this, the finances in an SB church are totally transparent. The line item budget is scrutinized and adjustments made by the congregation itself and then voted upon. I have attended more than one budget meeting where the discussion went on for 3 hours in an effort to make adjustments. The budget was published for the congregation each year. The pastor's salary constituted a living wage and not much more than that.
The problem I see on the LDS boards is that they have little if any experience with evangelical churches. They equate televangelists with evangelical preachers when televangelists are perhaps 1% of the Ev community so far as pastorship goes. They are not the norm at all.
Even Ted Haggard, as he was building up New Life, lived in a simple home. Over the years, as his church grew, he traded up to two more homes, the last being quite nice and new. Of course he's a crackpot but he wasn't in the beginning and I know this for a fact. Ted Haggard started New Life as a prayer group in his basement.