Cost of religion in the United States

[pattmarty]

Does anyone here know of the total contributions given to ALL religions in the US and what ALL the religions in the US are worth? I have been giving this some limited thought lately and can't find any figures at all. Anyone out there have any info on this? I am thinking that this could be a very huge deal, in that especially in these times the combined religions have and take in extremely large amounts AND pay no taxes on this "income". I think this would make for an extremely interesting discussion.

[hedgehog]

1. So, if a group of people want to get together for a trip, and they pool their money

to rent a bus, they should pay taxes on the money that is pooled? What about bowling leagues? I figure the bowling alley pays taxes on its profits, but doesn't it cost money to join the league? Should the league pay income taxes on the money it collects and gives to the bowling alley and uses for trophies and shirts?


I'm all for religious groups paying taxes when they engage in commerce such as renting a building or selling a product, but to tax the money that people pool together to run their organization, that I'm not so sure about.

Clergy members do pay income taxes. I'm thinking that it would be appropriate to charge property taxes as well. Taxing contributions? There you lose me.

[pattmarty]

3. Don't get your shorts in a bind, I was basically wanting to know.....

....how much income "they" take in per year, and what all "their" assets are worth. Ya know, like it takes x amount of dollars to carry on the war, to fund various government programs etc. I just want a ballpark dollar amount out of curiosity and maybe to continue the discussion.

[Cassandra]

2. Don't forget religious property that pays no...

property taxes.

[pattmarty]

4. I understand that. What I am looking for I guess, is..........

.........how much they are worth and how much they take in per year.

[yellowdogintexas]

5. The individual congregations would have an annual budget.

Now different congregations spend their money different ways. If my church makes a "profit" in a given budget year, that means a department or service that maybe got shorted in the course of the year gets a bonus that they can use for that department.

A good example: the Children's Division ended up with some extra $$. They transferred that money over to the Nursery childcare budget which allowed free under 3 yr old day care during our VBS and after care for working moms for kids up to 5th grade. The older kids who stayed all day actually helped out with the after care for the upper elementary age kids. We are not always able to provide this service without charging the parents for it.

Our UMW finished with an overage in the budget that didn't have a way to be spent. We voted to give that money to the CowTown Roundup which is a county wide project that provides school uniforms, shoes, socks, underwear, backpacks, school supplies and immunizations to kids referred to us by various Social Service agencies.

We own a lot of choice downtown parking. We lease it to workers during the week, and all the parking money goes to the First Street Mission, where clients receive food, clothing, support services and even legal aid.


The national websites for the mainline denominations might have some sort of pie charts.