Well, ladies and gentlemen, the date on the last blog post wasn't as bad as I had feared, but here is something that has me baffled...the idea of a church home. Here is a picture of Alexandria United Methodist Church, in Alexandria, NH. I've been told by someone very influential to me that we should not be supporting the church with our money, yet I pledged for the first time last year in my Methodist church in Las Cruces, New Mexico. MY church. Not the one my parents chose, which by the way were many over the years, but MY church. Here is a statement from a pastor in New Hampshire, where the weather is green and lovely!!
* New Hampshire ranked 11th in the nation in 1996 in its average statewide income.
* New Hampshire residents also appear to have accumulated significant assets, judging by the fact that New Hampshire ranked 9th in terms of the average amount of dividends and capital gains reported on tax returns in 1996.
* In 1992, New Hampshire had a concentration of individuals worth at least $1 million that was higher than the national median, unlike Maine and Vermont which were both below the national median.
* In 1997, 64% of New Hampshire residents reported volunteer activity, up from 61% in 1995, and much higher than the national average of 41%. Kudos for doing well.
* In 1996, and this is my point of concern, New Hampshire ranked 49th (remember there are 50 states) in the nation in itemized charitable contributions from federal tax returns. This low ranking has been consistent in the 1990's. Since 1991, New Hampshire has ranked between 47th and 50th.
* In 1996, New Hampshire residents reported $283 million in charitable giving on their tax returns. An additional $147 million would have gone to charity if they had given the national average.
* Individuals with estates worth at least $600,000 left bequests that represented about 10% of New Hampshire's total giving in the 1990's. Nationally about 7% of all giving to charities come from charitable bequests. In four out of the six years between 1991 and 1996, these New Hampshire residents left a higher percentage of their total assets to charity than did people with estates of a similar size in the nation as a whole. In 1996, 11.5% of these estate assets went to charity, placing New Hampshire in fourth rank nationally.. . .
The Bible has quite a bit to say about money. The Bible has 500 verses on prayer, and less than 500 verses on faith. There are more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions. One out of every 10 verses in the Gospels deals directly with money, as do a full one-sixth of Jesus' own words. Only the kingdom of God is mentioned more than money and possessions by Jesus. Sixteen out of 38 parables are about how to handle money and possessions. Trust me, if you hear just one or two sermons a year about money, you're getting off easy. I thought this very interesting, considering how far my church is in debt for their new building, and considering how my parents had the tendency to leave a church quickly when they did not agree with something, how could I be any better if I did the same thing, especially now that I am....Home???? Now...let me see if I get this citation correct.
Robertson, Anne. "Spiritual Disciplines: Tithing." Anne Robertson 2000 Web. www.annerobertson.com/CBSD/Tithing.htm 22 May 2011
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