Social Stratification in the Deep South

This morning we went to a mega church in New Orleans. Going in, I expected lots of fancy technology, flash displays of church wealth, and a new, modern structure. While the commercialization of the church was abundantly clear, I would not say that the other aspects were necessarily present. When we came in, someone handed us several pieces of paper and brochures…none of which contained an order of worship. Several times during the service, the speakers made announcements, referring to different causes or occasions to give money. I’m certain that I had never heard “and you can make your check out to…and if you want to pay with a credit card” so many times in a CHURCH service. In fact, I’ve never been to a service where money plays such a large role. They took up three different offerings. The first one was for tithing, the second was for some special offering, and the third was for the pastor’s birthday. It was all I could do not to sit open-mouthed for the entirety of this proceeding. This is so radically different from the church where I was raised. In my church, which is United Methodist, they take up the offering once. Sometimes there is a special offering, but it is part of the regular tithe collection. No differentiation is made. And there would most certainly never be a collection taken up for the preacher’s birthday. I found this deeply offensive and even an irresponsible action on the part of a church, located in such a poor community.

After church, we had a lively discussion about this on the bus. When I pointed out how I did not like the idea of taking up a birthday offering, many of the boys acted like this was normal operating procedure, or at least like it was not outside the realm of acceptable actions. They pointed out that the money probably would not go directly to the preacher and that it’s the same as buying her a birthday present. I just feel as if there is a better ways to accomplish the same thing…especially given the neighborhood where this church is located. It is right around the corner from where we stayed over spring break. When we were here then, the people running the organization we were working with said this was one of the poorest areas, with a shockingly high crime rate. It would seem to me that making your church members, who likely live in the area close to the church, feel obligated to give so much money is not an economically responsible decision on the part of the church…at least with respect to supporting its members. I think it is one thing to have church members tithe in support of the church. This is a Biblically rooted exercise that is expected of those who believe. People who support the church can generally turn to the church for support in their times of need, making tithing helpful for allowing the church to give back to you. And this is the entire point of tithing. The idea behind it is to give to God what He deserves because of how good He has been to you…and He will bless you in return. Having a church family to turn to in times of desperate need can be one form of such blessing.

Visiting this church was most definitely a great experience. As I have never been to a church anything like this, it was quite eye opening. However, the extreme commercialization of this church is deeply distressing to me because it takes away from the message of Christianity by giving people the perception that they must or can buy their ways into salvation.