From the Humanist Association - discuss

Thst is Glad News Newquay

DH and I have been to our local baptist church this morning-congregation of about 500. It's growing at such a pace it's becoming a problem!
Since the new year we have to had to have two services at the nearby local high school and one service in the church building which also acts as a community hub with play school, cafe, food bank and lots of other things too.
Everything is funded by members.
In fact today was a special 'thank offering' day. The money will be used to support Lebanon which has taken in so many refugees, helping refugees in Calais and refugees who have turned up in our own town too.
Thank offering is the correct term we have so much to be grateful for.

I have never investigated how UK churches are funded, I suspect some does come from our taxes, but I don't know. They survive, so must be funded somehow either from taxes, charity or in the case of the CofE from it's income from property. Mt DIL is RC and I know they donate quite a lot to support their church.
I am a hypocrite, I was married in church and my children were christened, guilty as charged.

There's loads of space to build without knocking down churches

And their construction can still give cause for admiration today - unlike some later architecture!

Check your deeds GandTea - you may find you have a Chancel Repair Liability for upkeep of the building if not for day-to-day running of the church.
and it does not just apply if you live next door to a church

I do not live in the UK GandTea, but it is quite normal in Europe. In Germany it is 8% of the taxes you pay. Here in Switzerland, it changes from Canton to Kanton- My Canton and Geneva have voted to make this voluntary- and it means our Churches are truly struggling to maintain workforce and services to the community, for the handicapped, elderly, alcoholics and drug users, Alzheimer sufferers, in OAP homes and hospitals, etc, etc. They sold many Vicarages and other buildings to cut expenses, and Vicar have to be shared among villages, some made redundant, some just not replaced on retirement, and staff and expenses cut to the absolute minimum- but now they just don't know what to do next.

And still those who have opted out expect to be married and buried in the Church, etc- and to just pay a small fee for the service. A neighbour even told me he told the Vicar who officiated at the dad's funeral (who had all opted out of paying the tax)- to play down the 'God' bit'- as he was not a believer. The hypocrisy beggars belief.

As I am not a practising Christian , I would expect congregations to finance the day to day running of there services. So, no I would not pay 3% for that aspect. I am not aware that such a tax has ever been proposed in the UK in modern times.

Babel fish. This was an invention of Douglas A his Hitchhikers Guide books. It is a little fish that you put in your ear, it automatically translates any tongue into your own, clever little devil. If I remember correctly it uses brainwave energy.

The full technical functionality is explained here
hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Babel_Fish

There is also an online translator called babelfish, this is real and quite useful
www.babelfish.com/

This is the sort of % for the Church Tax where I live. This does NOT go to buildings, as said in previous post, which are maintained by local Councils- but for staff, admin and services.

When in my County it was voted to be optional rather than compulsory, so called 'cultural' Christians vanished like snow in the sunshine.

I would certainly be prepared to pay towards the upkeep of major church buildings, where did you get 3% from ? Could I stand by and watch Westminster Abbey fall into ruins, no way.

In a similar vain I am a member of the NT and RHS to support houses and gardens etc.

Posts crossed GandTea- had never heard of Babel Fish before, thanks.

GandTea would you be happy to pay 3% of your yearly income to the Church- considering you are not a believer, or a Church goer?

Granjura, haven't you got a babel fish ? Run it through the babel fish and you get :-

We. or rather some, need churches , I cannot say if they would pay to support them, I would.

Babel fish are available from every good Hitch hikers store.

So sorry, I said - we or rather some need churches, I cannot say if they would support them, I would .

sorry autocorrect garbled your message so not sure what you mean. Of course those who do believe and use the Church will do everything they can to support their Church.

As said before, where I live there used to be a compulsory Church tax- but that was voted out a few years back and the number of people who voluntary pay, has dwindled to the point where the Chruch can barely survive and has had to cut down the services they provide to the Community at large, the number of Vicars and staff and sold many properties (how we got to acquire our home). And that is solely for the Church staff and activities- as all the rest (buildings, maintenance, heating, etc, etc, are paid for by general Council taxes- but for how long?).

I know I've said it before- but it would be interesting how many people would pay the Church tax- and those who would vote with their feet, or rather, purses.

We or Rsther dome need churches , I cannot say if they would pay to dupport them, I would

I have very mixed views of the church. I am not a frequent church goer and do not believe in a God as such. I do however consider that the church plays an important role in our society. I would therefore be quite happy to pay towards it's continuance. I would also prefer Britain to remain a Christian country with Christian ideals.

No matter where you live- you can imagine and wonder if the population who increasingly does not make use of the Church- will continue to want to pay for the upkeep- for the few who do use it.

No idea granjura, I live in Wales

The tax payers have to pay for maintenance of the grounds, stone walls, the building inside and out, the heating and electricity- and now the central heating needs to be replaced and will cost an absolute fortune- and that for a population of about 250, about 10% who go to services, mainly older people.

Annie, I understand what you are saying- but the truth is that SOME people need their Churches, others, like me, just love the buildings.

But for how long? Here where I live, the Church buildings of ooficial Churches, here Protestant, belong to the Council and not the Church. I love our 13C Church, right in front of our house (which was the Vicarage from 1987 to 2008) - but it is costing the Community, via taxes, a lot of money per household. There is a service perhaps every couple of months with a small Congregation and a few funerals and weddings a year and a Christmas service- and a concert once in a blue moon.

At what point will the youngsters say- sorry, but we don't want to pay that much for a Church we never attend- let's spen the money on the school, health, transport and amenities we do use.

People still need their churches.

When most of these religious places were started they was a need for them.

Nowadays there's a need for affordable housing.

The answer seems, knock down the religious places and build affordable homes, and if doG doesn't like it he can kiss my ass !! {smile]

Alea this is what you said:
"You totally fail to recognise the progress of ecumenism in this country. Oh and hadn't you noticed there are no religious wars these days (and in the bad old days when there were, I would urge you to look at Mainland Europe for how to do a really good religious war) and don't bring NI into it, that has an awful lot more to do with politics and history than religion."

To which I replied that I thought Isis was fighting a religious war.

Almost everyone in our village supports fundraising events for the church, although very few attend services. We simply don't want to lose the lovely old building which resonates with history and tradition and is also now used for many community events.

That tradition cannot justify the continuing establishment of the C of E. It is absurd that bishops sit in the House of Lords (which of course is absurd in many ways and should be reformed or abolished).

Even more absurd is the state sponsorship and funding of so-called "faith schools" which combine segregation with indoctrination. Religious parents can ensure that their children attend their church, mosque, synagogue or temple where religious instruction (as opposed to education) is freely available but all children should be entitled to an inclusive education, alongside others from different traditions. Support the Accord Coalition www.accordcoalition.org.uk

You are right- it was indeed about politics, and not religion. About the unfair advantage and position the CofE has in the Lords and the Government in general, the education system and all. And there is no bashing of the CofE at all- where on earth did you get that? The point is that in a country that is increasingly secular and multicultural- having one religion, and only one of their denomination- is just out of date and unfair.

And yes, there are no wars of religion (unless agains Islam by some- but that is another story and not for here). As annie says on another thread, how can Catholics and Protestants have joint marriages and funeral with both Catholic Priest and Protestant Vicar together - and in each other's Churches ... well it's possible here- as there is nos strict order of service and book of prayers to follow. If you go back to history and HenryVII (and then Elisabeth and James) the CofE was never a truly reformed Church as on the Continent or in Scotland. Henry wanted to get rid of the Pope and take the lands and riches of the Catholic Church, and was totally anti the Continental REformation movement and beliefs. And Elisabeth was not interested in 'cutting windows into her subject's souls' (can't remember the exact words.

So no religious wars- but unfair power to one denomination which is not representative of the country anymore. And see what happens when a Monarch (go on Harry...) wants to marry a Catholic and see what happens- or a Muslim (remember Doddy?) or, OMG - someone who is an atheist or humanist and insists on making that clear, rather than go through all the pretence...

In the 21st Century and with the make-up of the population, it is an anathema to have one official religious group (not even religion) sharing power officially- and Government and religion should be totally separated.

I am very sorry if it makes your blood boil btw.