What the?!

I was recently reading an article by a leader in my current denomination. The article was about the importance of tithing & budgeting as a church, not just as individuals. Along with the usual crap about God blessing people in a twisted a quid pro quo theological system--you know, the more you give, the more He'll bless--was this little gem of advice:

"When you break it down, our budgets should look something like this:
10 percent of your budget should be given to benevolence, missions, or outreach.
10 percent should go to your savings account...
20 percent should go toward ministries -- children, youth, worship, men’s, women’s, etc.
35 percent of our budgets should be designated to our salaries.
25 percent of our budgets should be designated for building and operation costs."

So 60% of a church's budget should pay professionals to do what we should all be doing (ministry) and to pay for a nice place to meet. That is why we have decided not to do the typical church thing. Our 2005 budget looked like this:

• 56% - Benevolence: locally & globally (tsunami & hurricane aid)
• 23% - Group functions: meals, art supplies, etc.
• 15% - Operating costs: website, corporation fees, software, etc.
• 6% - Miscellaneous expenses & savings

I like to know that I am a part of a community that spends the most amount of the money being offered each week on helping others in need. I think that is a much better use of our resources, and a much more scriptural practice. Personally, I'm not satisfied with only 54% of our money being spent on others, I'd like to see that figure be much higher. Can you imagine what the world would be like if the church as a whole got it's budgeting in line with the heart of God? What if our benevolence budget was given the priority & percentage that our building and salary budgets? What if sold our multi-million dollar auditoriums and sanctuaries and gave that money to the poor? I seem to remember Jesus recommending something like that.