Each year, during Kol Nidre, Sinai Temple in Los Angeles pauses in its prayers for a fundraising appeal. A few members rise to address the congregation, asking for donations while speaking about how the community has supported them through good times and bad. It’s a typical fundraising pitch for an American synagogue: Give because you’re…
St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church sits near the campus of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. The small congregation, with 200 members and a budget of $130,000, is looking for a new pastor, who will be offered a salary and housing stipend worth between $50,000 and $60,000. Such a compensation package would be…
American Jews love to complain about how expensive it is to be Jewish, as if there were no choice in the matter, as if there were only costs associated with Jewish life and nothing on the benefits side of the equation. As if we were the only ones carrying such a burden. We look in…
Which costs more: belonging to a synagogue, or belonging to a church? A survey conducted by the Forward has found that Jewish and Christian religious institutions appear to raise about the same amount per member, despite the fact that church giving is voluntary and synagogues charge membership dues. The more than 20 churches and synagogues…
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