Brings to mind the old joke. . .
Two Jews are standing outside a church and they see a sign that says, “Convert to Catholicism, get $10.”
“Hmmm,” says the first Jew, “that sounds pretty good. I think I just may do that.”
So, he goes into the Church for a while, comes out, and the second Jew says to him, “So, did you convert?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Did you get the money.”
“Is that all you Jews think about?”
I believe the OP picked an infelicitous figure by whom to swear. 
If there’s a program where you can east into the dues, that would help. Same thing if folks are flexible.
I’ve belonged to churches, but I never tithed. When I went, I usually dropped ten bucks or so in the collection plate. There are people who donate much more, I know, but is that the norm? Does the average Lutheran or Methodist family drop $50 in the collection plate every week?
I’m a bit concerned because my income looks very good on paper. I’ve got very little debt; just my mortgage. However, my discretionary income is quite small; I basically take up the footprint of two people, living alone in a good-sized house that needs to be heated, powered, maintained and paid for. I have a large portion of my sarary withheld for retirement. There are other expenses that I can’t cut from the budget, too. I’m looking for a second job; an extra $300 or so a month would be great.
Nonetheless, chappachula may be right in saying that I could be putting the cart before the horse.
Presumably, God would know.
Based on a number of lectures on the importance of tithing (generally masquerading as sermons) which I have been exposed to the answer is “maybe”. Many methodists contribute more like 5 % of their income rather than 10%. Few drop a 50 dollar bill in the collection plate every week, but many write checks for $400 once a month or $4000 a quarter. (Numbers picked out of a hat, mostly). A few contribute carefully calculated tithes, many others contribute an amount that feels right from what is left over after the important things are paid for. And still others may give 10 % of their income to “Jesus” without donating 10% of their income to their local church.
We own the banks, so we can afford it.
Yeah…myself, I was thinking the Jesus H Christ synagogue mightn’t be the right one to be attending.
Temples, maybe - I wouldn’t know, but I have never attended or heard of a church who charged dues.
Maybe I am misunderstanding the meaning of the term “dues”. In my church (ELCA Lutheran), I have served on the stewardship committee, and nobody except the church secretary and the treasurer knows how much, if anything, anyone contributes. Not the pastors, who take great care not to know, not the church council, no one.
Do other denominations do it differently?
Regards,
Shodan
You really call them “dues”? There’s not a special hebrew equivalent of “tithe” or “offering” or some such? Probably a stupid question, but it seems odd to someone who grew up Protestant – you tithe at church, and pay dues in Scouts, your frat and your martial arts class.
You got it. They are not some abstract offering to god, but the price of keeping the building maintained. In addition, when I actually went to shul I never payed, and no one ever asked me to. I never thought of it, and no one ever reminded me.
How long are services for those days?
Having just gone through Easter, the solutions for the increased attendance are usually more services (7 at my church) and squeezing chairs into every available space. In other words, if the 9am service is too full, there’s still the 11am and there may be seating in the narthex (if not the sanctuary).
This, of course, wouldn’t work if services lasted more than an hour or two.
Are services an all day affair, so ticketing is a necessity?
If you’re going to convert to Judaism (or any other religion, really), don’t let the price ticket of the services be the deciding factor. Let the deciding factor be that the religion moves you to be a better person, you can agree with it’s doctrines/beliefs/outlooks on life, and it’s leaders are ones that you can envision looking up to.
That being said, any synagouge should be willing to work with you on membership dues. Furthermore, I have yet to see any synagouge kick someone out based on their inability to pay.
Zev Steinhardt
I just ment “most churches are that way” in the sense that they all expect those who become members to make a non-trivial financial commitment. How explicit they are about that expectation obviously varies a lot!
Synagogue dues aren’t cheap. Neither are the services that synagogues provide to their members. But, in my experience, most synagogues will work with anyone who is seriously interested in joining but can’t afford the standard dues. In many cases (all, that I know of, but I’m sure there are exceptions), dues for younger single members (under 30, or some similar age) are usually lower, dues for families whose head of household is under 35 are also usually reduced, and synagogues generally have a process for determining when reduced dues are appropriate based on an individual or family’s financial circumstances. Those processes usually involve sharing details of your finances, but that’s reasonable.
Also, no synagogue I’ve ever seen expects everyone who attends services to be a member. If you expect to enroll your kids in religious school or avail yourself of the other activities/services, you would generally be expected to join, but no one’s standing at the door of the sanctuary on Friday nights or Saturday mornings asking to see your proof of membership. I attended services nearly every week in the year or so leading up to my conversion, and no one ever mentioned anything about it; the closest anyone ever came was offering me an aliyah, which I declined each time as being inappropriate before my conversion was complete, but in no way was I ever made to feel uncomfortable or unwelcome because I wasn’t a member.
My experience is with Catholic churches, but it’s always been the same. Anyone can make donations into the basket at mass. Regular parishioners are encouraged, but not required, to become part of the “envelope” system. This simply means you put your offerings into the basket at mass in an envelope with your number on it, so that the parish treasurer can keep track of how much you’ve given and issue you with the appropriate receipt at the end of the financial year for tax purposes.
[washes earholes out] Oh, right. So you’re reluctant to go to the synagogue because of the dues. For a moment there I thought you had a really serious problem. [/woo]
Way back when I was attending services, I would get a statement (for my taxes) at the end of each year that said I contributed $XX throughout the year. Of course, that was only for the donations I made by check, and could be recorded. For no one at your church to know how much each parishoner contributes would be very bad business (and church) practices.
Relevant part bolded - I missed that on my first reading, too, probably thrown off by the sentence following it.
They can be, yes. It depends on the congregation and the denomination.
Eeeek? What happened to “let your right hand not know what the left hand is doing”? (or the other way 'round, I’ve got laterality problems and don’t feel like looking it up - but the joke says , “I’d rather be the left hand”)
In Spain, donations to non-for-profit-organizations are now tax deductible, but most people still think that it’s ratty to get a tab for it. After all, taxes support things like free medical care for all, scholarships, roads, etc - people who donate out of generosity consider the “extra” tax as another donation. People who donate a huge amount so they can go to a lower tax bracket or some such, well, they’re not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, are they? There’s a place in your tax forms where you can choose whether 0.14% of your taxes goes to the Catholic Church or to Others (over 90% of the country is Catholic). This amount is definitely not enough for the upkeep of any church, mind you.
I’ve never registered as a parishioner, you belong to a parish or another depending on geographic location and just go to whichever one you like best in your area. My current parish is the smallest one in town on paper, but the most active one for bible study groups, catechesis, kids’ mass, etc. In the last year we’ve had about ten adult baptisms, too. It’s also the parish that lends a wing to the local mosque and another to the african evangelics 
Lends, does not hire out!
I can see the point with helping your church, same as you’d help any other association you belong to. But the concept of religious dues is alien to me.