Note: I'm not
religious or a member of any church. But I thought this was a great act and would love to see such things more
often. In my mind, that is what life is about and how to help others. Do it at the personal level. -B.
Church Hands Out $50G To Parishioners Faithful told to use the money to "bless someone"
By EMILY FELDMAN
Updated 12:15 PM EDT, Thu, Jun 4, 2009
An Alabama
church handed cash to parishioners with the instruction for them to use it on others.
The pastor of an Alabama Church called it a "Faith Stimulus Package." The recipients may call it a
miracle.
Bay Community Church in Malbis, Ala., gave away $50,000 to its
parishioners.
Instead of asking its members for donations, the trustees
of Bay Community doled out cash. Each of the church's 2,000 congregants walked away with an envelope containing
between $20 to $100.
But there's a catch; the cash is not for
them.
Along with various amounts of cash, the envelopes contained
instructions to "turn around and bless someone."
"The instructions were
simple, you can't give it back to the church and you can't spend it on you and your family," Associate Senior
Pastor Trey Taylor told WALA-TV. Taylor masterminded the plan to spread goodness and cash
during tough economic times.
The generous reverse-tithe took some
parishioners by surprise. Many in the congregation broke out their wallets, thinking that the 2,000 white envelopes
making their way down the pews were a request for extra tithing.
But
the cash in the envelopes was destined not for the clergy, nor for the parishioners themselves but for needy people
who likely don't belong to Bay Community.
"The reason behind it was
simple. We wanted our people to turn around and bless somebody," Taylor said.
It's not the first time something like this has been done. In 2007, an Ohio pastor made news by
handing $50 to each of his parishioners with the instruction to use their talents to double the
money.
The difference: the Ohio parishioners donated the over $30,000
they raised back to the church. Taylor just asks they spend it on others.
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
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