# Is it standatard practice to start your church by writing bad checks? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229 "2013-05-24T15:02:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/21 "2013-05-24T19:23:34Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > The fact that there was a specific network for black preachers involved was what made race worth mentioning. Good God, people! Have your never heard of The Nefarious League of Dishonest Negro Preachers? I’m pretty sure they’re signatories of both The Shadow Proclaimation and the Treaty of Tolerance. (Although, you know, their very name says that their signature on those agreements isn’t worth anything.) Also pretty sure they’re trying to arch Cosmodan. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/22 "2013-05-24T19:24:07Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > And the mention of race is relevant because . . . ? …it’s the typical black-church-drum-kit-P.A.-scam. There are entire black ministries dedicated to raising money through fraudulent band equipment purchases. Really, I’m surprised at your naivete. I’m making my own pile by selling franchises to the Jackmannii Diamond and Fourteen Karat Gospel Jesus Resurrection Church. We’ve put fourteen Jared’s out of business in the area already. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/23 "2013-05-24T19:28:04Z")
You’re lucky Jesus himself wasn’t there. he would’ve knocked over your register, you money changer! ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/24 "2013-05-24T19:31:31Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Good God, people! Have your never heard of The Nefarious League of Dishonest Negro Preachers? How does one join this esteemed institution? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/25 "2013-05-24T19:36:34Z")
It gets even worse. There’s an epidemic of hot-check writing these days by fat people. Really obese types in size 46 pants and muumuus waddling around laying down bad paper and getting away with buckets of fried chicken and seven-layer cakes. Real porkers, they are. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/26 "2013-05-24T19:39:00Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I’m making my own pile by selling franchises to the Jackmannii Diamond and Fourteen Karat Gospel Jesus Resurrection Church. We’ve put fourteen Jared’s out of business in the area already. 🆒 Do people really buy that? The Jackmannii of Diamonds isn’t even a real card! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/27 "2013-05-24T19:44:46Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Since no one has bothered to answer the OP’s question, I will: yes, it is standard practice. All churches start out by writing bad checks. Everyone knows this, except you apparently. > > Hope this helps. I believe this is exactly how the Catholic Church (which was the only church back then) started. Jebus asked his treasurer Matthew to write a hot check and the rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/28 "2013-05-24T19:57:18Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Good God, people! Have your never heard of The Nefarious League of Dishonest Negro Preachers? I’m pretty sure they’re signatories of both The Shadow Proclaimation and the Treaty of Tolerance. (Although, you know, their very name says that their signature on those agreements isn’t worth anything.) Also pretty sure they’re trying to arch Cosmodan. Once when we were robbed at gunpoint , I neglected to mention the robbers race for fear I’d be labeled a racist. When the police asked me I said. " How is that relevant?" ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/29 "2013-05-24T20:21:20Z")
I think a lot of these churches are promised imaginary funds by their members. They tell the pastors “yes, yes, yes, we love the church and will support it” but when it come time to put their money where their mouth is they’re nowhere to be found. There’s a massive (well, pretty large) church that was built up the street from me. The size of a couple of gymnasiums. They must have secured the loan to build the thing on promises of funds from it’s members. When it grand opened the parking lot was overfull with cars parked down the side streets. It didn’t last long though as I saw less and less cars their each week. They shut down within six months and now the city is left with a massive gym size building in a residential zone. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/30 "2013-05-24T20:26:23Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > I work at a small privately owned music store. We’ve been burned on checks in the past and by companies that claimed to guarentee checks but then failed to cover them when they bounced. So, we don’t take checks , with the exception of churches, usually ones we’ve done business with for some time. Why an exception for churches? “In God We Trust” isn’t exactly sound \*financial advice, \*you know! ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/31 "2013-05-24T20:33:14Z")
Yes, it is standard practice. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/32 "2013-05-24T20:34:59Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Why an exception for churches? > > “In God We Trust” isn’t exactly sound \*financial advice, \*you know! I think because we’ve had long running relationships with several churches and never had a problem. Something the owner decided. We do suffer from a lack of precise and clear communication so it got extended to all churches. We were fortunate that it was an actual church with a location that allowed us to retrive our gear. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/33 "2013-05-24T20:39:15Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It gets even worse. > > There’s an epidemic of hot-check writing these days by fat people. Really obese types in size 46 pants and muumuus waddling around laying down bad paper and getting away with buckets of fried chicken and seven-layer cakes. Real porkers, they are. They’re easy to catch though. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/34 "2013-05-24T20:48:30Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > When it grand opened the parking lot was overfull with cars parked down the side streets. It didn’t last long though as I saw less and less cars their each week. They shut down within six months and now the city is left with a massive gym size building in a residential zone. All I can think of is that the Minister and staff must have royally sucked to drive everyone away in that short of a time. But then, I have seen it happen. More than 30 years ago the very charismatic youth pastor from my (parents) church broke away to form his own church in a nearby town. Took a lot of people with him. Shortly thereafter, he took a sharp turn into religious conservatism (wives submit to husbands, not allowed to lead in church sort of thing) and his members slowly started returning to the parent church. Within about two years his new church was dead and he moved to a more conservative part of the country to take over an existing church. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/35 "2013-05-24T20:55:15Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “In God We Trust” isn’t exactly sound \*financial advice, \*you know! “All Others Pay Cash” works for a lot of businesses. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/36 "2013-05-24T21:03:14Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > And the mention of race is relevant because . . . ? To be fair, there **is** a fairly salient online presence of sites for or about self-identified “black preachers” and “black preaching”, and the OP was wondering if the deadbeat divines that he encountered had exchanged information about his store via such a network. “Black preacher” is almost a distinct profession according to some of these sites: it implies a preacher who is not only ethnically African-American but also maintains at least some of the traditional stylistic features of African-American pulpit speaking. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/37 "2013-05-24T21:10:42Z")
Can I get a hallelujah for bouncing checks for musical equipment? I said, can I get a hallelujah!? Praise the lawd! ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/38 "2013-05-24T21:15:36Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > Once when we were robbed at gunpoint , I neglected to mention the robbers race for fear I’d be labeled a racist. When the police asked me I said. " How is that relevant?" I’m having trouble figuring out how providing a physical description of someone who committed a crime against you _isn’t_ relevant. There is such a thing as being _too_ politically correct and color-blind, you know. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/39 "2013-05-24T21:23:07Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > How does one join this esteemed institution? You must have missed the last meeting. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229/40 "2013-05-24T21:28:38Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > To be fair, there **is** a fairly salient online presence of sites for or about self-identified “black preachers” and “black preaching”, and the OP was wondering if the deadbeat divines that he encountered had exchanged information about his store via such a network. > > “Black preacher” is almost a distinct profession according to some of these sites: it implies a preacher who is not only ethnically African-American but also maintains at least some of the traditional stylistic features of African-American pulpit speaking. Bingo also, “deadbeat divines” is great. I am so stealing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-standatard-practice-to-start-your-church-by-writing-bad-checks/659229.md?page=3)