Church taxes in Germany: not taking the pledge

Christian Century, August 13, 1997 by William E. Downey

Joachim Rissmann, superintendent of a district that includes almost half the population of the former eastern part of Berlin, confirmed that the impression that American ministers are under pressure from wealthy givers is widespread among pastors in Germany. "I am not convinced by statements from Americans that this is not true. He who is under pressure is unlikely to admit it," Superintendent Rissmann remarked. Rissmann said that the problem is not entirely foreign to Germany. According to Rissmann, a wealthy publisher of mass circulation newspapers and magazines, Axel Springer, left the Berlin-Brandenburg church some years ago, taking with him millions in church tax payments, because he regarded the church and especially its bishop, Kurt Scharf, as being too far left politically. "Here in Germany we see the influence of the wealthy especially in the choice of pastors. Those called to congregations where the wealthy live are quite different in their outlook from those chosen by congregations where factory workers live," Rissmann said. Unlike clergy in the U.S., however, all German clergy receive the same salary.

The idea of pledging is not totally unknown in Germany, however. It has always been practiced among the so-called "free" churches: Baptist, Methodist, Mennonite, Moravian, free Lutheran. The 150-member Methodist congregation in which my sister-in-law and her husband are leaders maintains its program and staff -- full-time pastor, parttime sexton -- in a yoked relationship with an even smaller Methodist congregation through pledge income. It has even managed to come up with the funds to build an attractive addition to the church.

The Berlin and Brandenburg church and other regional churches are making some attempts to raise what they call Kirchgeld (church money) by volunteer giving. But the goals being set are very modest, and the resulting giving reflects this. The suggested level of giving in Berlin and Brandenburg is the equivalent of 5 percent of one month's income once a year, a proportional giving of just under one half of 1 percent. And even this modest program is aimed primarily at the retirees who pay nothing through church taxes. Their reactions have been surprising.

A colleague serving a local church in our district was told by an elderly parishioner with a comfortable social security pension: "Of course I pay church taxes. I've always paid my church taxes. I'm a church member, aren't I?" Asked if she paid income tax, she replied in the negative and was surprised to learn that this meant she also paid no church tax and had not done so in the ten years since her retirement. The woman then willingly signed up for her suggested Kirchgeld, which, based on her monthly pension of the equivalent of $1,000, amounted to $50 for the year. In this way the congregation was able to raise the equivalent of a few thousand marks. Although not an outstanding amount in a church of almost 3,000 members, it was enough to supply needed funds for parish functions and church music.