Would you agree to pay Church Tax for your faith?

However, if I amy, back to the Census question.

Many will say clearly they have no religion, because... the have none. Others will clearly state their faith and denomination, whatever the consequences, like pay tax that would go to that denomination- because their faith is very important to them.

For the vast majority, in the current UK system- they are very likely to say CofE, or Catholic, etc- because they were raised in that faith- despite the fact it is no longer important to them, fro,m the religious pov. but still feel some attachment, culturally, because of their background.

And the question I asked in the OP. For this last group- how many would stop and think, and not mention that Church/Faith- if it meant that they would then be obliged to contribute 8/10%?

My guess, is that most would then come to the conclusion, that their vague cultural attachment would not be enough to agree to pay a significant proportion of their salary to that Church.

And keep it for themselves, or choose another Charity or charities that have more meaning to them. (as we do, personally).

if I may!

We give money to our church as most in the congregation do. I am not sure if it should be compulsory- isn’t there something about not declaring your donations and keeping them private in the bible? Sometimes we give more if there is a special appeal, sometimes we give less if we have had a lot of bills come in. Our church is not rich and struggles financially so we know the money is really needed. We don’t have any fancy trappings or even a building to keep up but we rent a hall.

It is important that those of very limited means or on benefits are not excluded from their faith institution.
I hesitate to mention the riches and investments of the CofE ...........
I would rather that those of faith either gave to help their local communities or contributed in other ways.

I think it is very out of date to think people tick any old religious community on the census. Ticking "Christian" is not welding yourself to any particular one and people are more ready to say "no religion" than they once were. This is from the 2021 census.

For the first time in a census of England and Wales, less than half of the population (46.2%, 27.5 million people) described themselves as “Christian”, a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3% (33.3 million) in 2011; despite this decrease, “Christian” remained the most common response to the religion question.

“No religion” was the second most common response, increasing by 12.0 percentage points to 37.2% (22.2 million) from 25.2% (14.1 million) in 2011.

I attend church regularly as a committed Christian, and also help with the preparation of services twice a week. I give a regular donation of money each week and if I am away on holiday or ill I make up the weeks money I have missed when I return . I have never worked out what percentage of my earnings I give but I do give each week.

I have always declared my faith on all forms including the census as I consider it part of who I am , and would continue to do so if a “tax” was compulsory . If I deny my faith I deny Christ!

I would not want to tithe 10% of our income to the Church.

Putting money in the collection when we do attend is one thing but being committed to a set amount - no.

This tithe was introduced at the church we attended when I was very young. Anyone who did not agree and wanted to continue to put what they could afford into the collection plate met with looks of disapproval from some in the congregation.

Short answer: no.
I put into the collection plate whenever I attend a church service.
( I tell a lie, when attending the church/school Carol Service In Christchurch in New Zealand this last Christmas, I had no NZ dollars to put into the collection plate. I wasn’t going to put my credit card in the plate 😂)

Let people who attend a church pay for it. There should be no compulsory contribution by anyone else. I had to take out Chancel insurance on my house otherwise I might have had to pay for repairs to the local CofE: I think that's wrong.

First geard about this from German friends in the 60s. I was taken aback. Church tax was deducted at source with income tax etc. Its wasnt obligatory but you cant then use a church fir weddings, christenings etc. Our friends considered leaving as it was, and is, a sizeable amount but in the end they remained in the end.
I havnt used the church fir any of the usual occasions and dont plan to at my end, so no, not for me.

Why dont I read through my editing. In the end...delete one.

JaneJudge

No i wouldn't be happy to pay a tax to any religion. I always tick 'no faith/religion' and feel that if there is a God - they will have judged me and I am a fast train to hell, if that contributes to the discussion

I feel and do the same.

One gives what one can to what feels right. Some may be happy to pay a tithe, it has to be personal choice.

We abolished tithes and they should stay abolished.

There should never be a compulsory requirement. People have differing commitments for the money they earn.
Those truly committed to their faith would surely give as much as they could afford.
I always put N/A in the religion box of any questionnaire. So, maybe I’ll meet some of the others in that fast train to hell.

Fleurpepper

Smileless2012

I know for a fact that the answer is no Fleurpepper, having been the treasurer for our church for the last 2 years. It often depends on the size and demographic of the congregation. We know that our church's 'free will offer' in no way covers the cost of our clergy, and when that's set to increase in 2025 we will struggle to meet the required target.

Yes, what our Vicar always said. Very friendly and approchable, despite us not being Church goers. And my best friend who is a Warden and Secretary of her local Church.

I am also a treasurer of a church.

I agree that the C of E has a lot of money but that does not filter down to the parish churches.
Our benefice (4 proper churches and a vanity project) has to find find over £60,000 per year to pay for our vicar and the large office in our city that is staffed by lots of experts. Health and Safety etc.
We have a congregation of approx 20 who contribute regularly.
It just about pays 25% of the monthly insurance costs. We are only able to keep our doors open because of a legacy but that is running out.

I do understand why non believers would not want to pay to support the church but the unfortunate fact is that we have such a lot of very lovely buildings that are deteriorating fairly quickly.
The ‘big’ church seems not to have a clue.

Presumably if you don’t attend church in Germany you don’t have to pay. I wonder what happens with the occasional attendees,like Christmas and Easter only.

When I first moved to Germany I registered with the Social Services and got a tx number etc as I wanted to start work straight away. I was asked my religion and said "evangelisch" be ause I didn't think she'd know what "anglikanisch" was. When I got my first payslip I saw that the church tax had been deducted. As I had married into a Catholic family, I was a little taken aback at this and went along to the relevant office to correct the mistake. So I haven't paid church tax since. If I could, I would, as they run kindergartens, hospitals, care homes and many other social institutions.

The Catholic church has shot itself in the foot with the recent coming to light of scandals such as abuse and corruption and many have left the church because of this (including at least one of my sons). Even our local parish has had its stories.

It A difficult situation.

BTW, nanna8 whether you pay the tax has nothing to do with church attendance. Those who do attend give additionally with their time, money, and any other skills they can offer, such as with music, visiting the sick, baking cakes etc. As was stated above, church tax is deducted directly from your salary - there is no check on attendance, no roll call.

If you are not Catholic but wish to marry one in a Catholic church, you can ask around and you will usually find a priest who will perform the ceremony. Not all do, but this is up to the individual priest to decide.

A wedding ceremony in Germany is actually no more than a blessing because you have to have been married by a registrar first to be eligible to have a ceremony in church/mosque/synagogue.

No I do not attend any church nor would I pay a tax. Btw this does not mean I am not a believer.

I am always horrified in poor countries at the amount of gold found in the churches while the people around starve.

I understand Fleurpepper, that you were asking a general question. In that spirit it seems to me that we should keep any question of Church Tax separate from the Census form.
The Census need to give us a picture of society - and yes, some people will tick a box out of a vague sense of family history or cultural significance. Any financial implications of dong so would change that, and change the accuracy of measuring the social change.
I'm trying to remember if they also asked about attendance at a place of worship (I don't think so)

I always support causes that I believe in and we 'tithe' ourselves, paying to charities and other organisations that support social change. That doesn't in our case, involve any religious organisation.

According to Wiki the Cof E has a large investment portfolio that they are attemptimg to make more ethical.
But I thought this was appropriate
The Church of England generates approximately £329 million from churchgoers' donations;[6] this corresponds to approximately £15 per week per donor.

So it is almost like a tax income,

Tithes were abolished. There was a good deal of resentment at tithing because everyone had to pay, even those who were not Anglican churchgoers. Let those who wish to pay do so but leave everyone else out of it.

Glorianny I can only say that some people must be emptying sacks of money into the collections. In our church it’s about £5/person and that’s only once a month.
So about £80/month and the building’s insurance is nearly £200/month.
The church needs a huge overhaul, it is ridiculous that so many lovely buildings are kept open for so few. On the other hand, what would we do with them if they closed?
In our parish very few donate or step up to help. They don’t support events that are held (non religious) but they still want to get married and buried there. Where do they think the money comes from?
I don’t think we should be taxed to keep them up though, I think that the Church authorities need to take a long hard look at their ‘business model’.

I remember as a child back in the 1960’s our parish priest decided that instead of dropping coins in the collection plates when they were passed round during mass every parishioner would be issued with a book of small envelopes. Adults and children. My Dad noticed there were serial numbers on them but didn’t think too much of it. We continued to give what we could afford but the coins were dropped into the collection plate in the sealed envelopes.

3 months later a letter dropped through the door with an itemised tally of what had been paid from our household. My Dad was furious that some parish busybody was given that task and he tore up the remaining books of envelopes and binned them. We reverted to the cash directly into the plate method as did many other families.

I would pay it rather than deny my faith . I’m a committed Christian, pay a weekly donation to my church that I attend regularly and in C of E churches you have always paid a fee for christenings, weddings and funerals whether you are a regular attender or not