I know my experience isn& #39;t everyone& #39;s, but sometimes it rubs me the wrong way when people complain about churches taking in tithes/offerings & not paying taxes. Growing up a pk with a church my dad started around my dining room table, I& #39;ve seen first hand the struggles of 1/5

Small churches. We went from service in my house, to service in a hotel, to service in a SDA church who let us rent on Sundays, to finally purchasing a building. The mortgage on that building needs to be paid. Utilities need to be paid. Musicians need to be paid. CLERGY needs 2/5

to be paid. My father also did counseling work to pay personal bills because quite often THE CHURCH BROUGHT NO MONEY HOME. He had 4 kids to feed, a house to pay for, etc. Home improvement projects put off for years. He finally got a decent new car like 2yrs before he died. I 3/5

We were never raking in cash, buying brand new expensive cars, paying down payments on vacation homes, etc. The money brought in was put back into the church or the community. We need more churches like that, but I feel like people pretend these churches don& #39;t exist at all. 4/5

I understand the upset with churches that misuse funds and don& #39;t give back to the community. They should be held accountable. Just please don& #39;t forget about the small churches that are trying to get by and help people. There are a lot of those, too. 5/5