Well, the churches i been to had an offering bag that would go round, and one church would say its an offering to God whatver you have will be mutliplied, and so they didnt ask they just had a bag go round, kind of like how beggars but a hat on the ground and want passers by to put money in it.
However i noticed in one church the pastor would say we not only share our stories and MONEY and he would say this every week with the emphasis on MONEY that I got to thinking is he asking for more money all the time? Because my offering is often food for the food basket as you can eat food but cant eat money.
The first church is presybeterian second is baptist.
"Other churches that were kind of pentecostal would say you robbing God if you dont tithe. Actually i visited a baptist and they started saying that as well, and made ppl feel real guilty if they didnt open their wallets".
Every Church I've been to passes round the offering plate and yes it's meant to do God's work and meet the Church budget. If you fill out one of those envelopes the Church will usually send you a statement every 6/12 months so you can file it with your taxes as a charitable contribution.
I don't go for the hard core "you're robbing God" if you don't tithe, in fact if you were unemployed then the Church should have been helping you. There are many ways of doing God's work which don't include giving money to the Church if you can't afford it. If you donate food then I don't see why that's not acceptable. Usually once a year Ministers do ask people to commit to a give a certain amount each week but that's when they're trying to meet the budget requirements for the coming year.
I've noticed that two Churches I've been to recently have added online donations to their options so many people just passed the collection plate without putting anything in. Only the Lord knows if these people actually do donate online or not but it takes the pressure from people who just pass the plate.
I do have a problem with some of these mega Churches where the Minister lives in a huge house and drives an expensive car, however the congregation is obviously aware of this.
I just feel you haven't found the right Church yet, I've never felt pressure to give money and if I did feel this I would be finding another Church.]