Dutch church starts with subscription for members

Nowadays, people subscribe to various services, such as Netflix, a newspaper, and the gym. Why would the church not join the list? That was the question the Protestant Veenkerk in the Dutch town of Amersfoort-Vathorst asked itself, as reported by the Dutch daily Nederlands Dagblad.

As the church decided that a subscription was worth a try, it sent its members a letter that explained the offer. Subscribers can choose from set amounts of money they want to donate to the church every month, the Nederlands Dagblad writes. The church leadership calculated that every household has to pay 37,50 a month to cover all the costs.

Gathering money in the form of a subscription is a new phenomenon in the Netherlands. Some churches, among which the denomination to which the Veenkerk belongs, have an annual action. In January, all members are asked to donate money to their local church. That is then used to maintain the church building, to support social projects and the denomination as a whole.

Other churches get their money from a so-called set voluntary contribution. With that, congregations pay for the salary of their pastor, the custodian and necessary reparations to church buildings.

Some denominations collect money during church services, the so-called collections. During the service, a money bag will go around. Churchgoers can then put in some cash or special collections coins, for example.

Payment

Reverend Rolinka Klein Kranenburg, from the Veenkerk, thinks that a subscription will lead to higher revenue. The benefit is that people do not have to think about the size of their donation every year, she says to the Nederlands Dagblad. Instead, the payment for the subscription is transferred by the bank automatically every month until a person decides to stop the transactions.

In addition, she suspects that people give more in total because, psychologically, the amount of money that is paid per month is not so significant. “A high amount of money once a year scares people. In that case, they are likelier to fill in a lower amount.”

Hospitable

The main reason for this new form of money collecting is a financial deficit, the Veenkerk acknowledges. This year, the congregation has a shortage of 40,000 euros. The church consists of young people who often did not grow up in church, says pastor Klein Kranenburg. “Many people do not understand the system where they are visited once a year and have to fill in their donation. They do not realise that a church costs money too.” In her opinion, a subscription suits our consumption society much better.

Not everyone is happy with the plan. Hugo Bulk, also belonging to the Protestant denomination of the Veenkerk, is afraid that people will get the idea that they must pay for the church. “Is that the image you want to have as a church? Congregations should be hospitable and accessible for everyone.”

The subscription will also become available to people connected to the church but do not want to become a member, Reverend Klein Kranenburg promises. For now, the subscription is an experiment. It will be evaluated in April.