My first church had seven members in it, and I have to remember, the rent was $225 a month and I worked for Union Carbide and took the check I made from work to pay for the rent to keep the church open.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I was raised in a very religious home with two parents who were deeply involved in the black church. When I was young, I went to a small black AME church in New Jersey.
I always felt that church is where I'm going to find my community and people to live my life with.
It wasn't until my second year that I got to actually work with Church.
I don't mind saying, you know, that I don't take a salary from the church, and God has blessed me with more money than I could imagine from my books.
And they turned around and leased it to The Assembly Of God Churches - their headquarters are in Springfield, Missouri. They leased it to them for the first year. Then, after the first year, they will donate it to the church.
The church wasn't an organization in the first century. They weren't writing checks or buying property. The church has matured and developed over the years. But for some reason, the last thing to change is the structure of leadership.
When I look back at the church I grew up in, I realise that nothing about its behaviour was very Christian. It was just a social club on Sundays where people would meet up with their mates.
I'm not a pastor; I've never been on staff at a church.
My dad had a church of 90 people when I was born. It was just, over the years it continued to grow.
A church debt is the devil's salary.