F**k the church. F**k Christianity. F**k all religion. It's nothing but a several thousand year old scam.

Once upon a time, I taught reading to the lowest 20% of my school in grades 3, 4, & 5, and I had a wonderful young lady in my grade 5 classes that read at maybe a 2nd grade level but with zero comprehension. She was missing from school for several weeks and I was growing concerned cuz of how far behind she was already but her absence was excused.... When she returned I gave her a big hug and told her we missed her, asking, "Where have you been?". No joke, she missed several weeks of school cuz her "mom needed help with cleaning the church". I told her school was REALLY important but she replied, "my mom says the church is more important.". So yeah, fúck you, organized religion.

The Catholic church is one of the wealthiest businesses in the world. They don't need free labor. If they are really hurting, why not sell some of the millions (possibly billions) in art that they own, and then maybe use that money to actually help the poor like they are supposed to.

The church always has and always will exploit people. Especially the vulnerable.

NTA, OP. Sundays were meant to be days on which the devout do not work. Go do that internship instead so you can be better prepared for the future. Churches shouldn't enslave nor bully.

Another unfortunate example of some Christians not living to their religion's tenants. I think this pastor forgot that you pay people who do with. Unless those people specifically volunteer. Should have ask the congregation for volunteers up they don't want to pay their worker.

I’ve been in the church community before and saw their hypocrisy up close myself. I would get talked into doing work for the church too - like cleaning the facility and doing free babysitting when I had been laid off and was low on funds. But I agreed because I felt I was doing it to be part of the church community. That young man needs to move on with his life and find a real job opportunity. He was being used by this pastor, who knew exactly what he was doing - the manipulative bastard. Disgusting behaviour. Don’t lose your faith young man - there is a difference between religion and spirituality.

Faith doesn't pay the bills.

Also by the picture they were using for the story it looks like you're in a Catholic Church hopefully you're not if you are you should definitely just get out of that because they do a lot of things that Jesus said not to do.

Looks like I'm not working Sundays anymore if I'm not getting paid!

Churches... 🙄 nothing surprises me with those.

This is the typical conundrum when a church hires a congregant. It's hard for everyone involved to know in which role the worker/member is operating. It's a hard balance and can cause lots of misunderstanding. It'm much better if there is clear division between the two roles - work areas A, B, & C of the church and volunteer in area D that is not at all related to A, B, & C.

Info: Wer do churches in the US get their money from? Do they just rely on donations or do they have other sources?

The church should have set up a fundraising ministry for starters. If not that they need to have a sign up sheet for volunteers to do the work. I am catholic and this is how we go about things. If you are being paid as an employee then that's what they need to do is pay you. Now if you signed up on a volunteer sheet then it would be clear that you are volunteering for this event at the moment. The preacher is just not organized. I wish people would stop being judgmental towards religion. Jesus died on the cross because we all make mistakes and are sinners. That means that of course the word " everybody" in " everybody is a sinner" includes "everybody ". Christians and everyone else is included in "everybody ". Anyways, the kid is 23 and young people make mistakes to by getting over emotional and handling things by emotion. If it was me I would have just told the preacher that it would be alot better to have a sign up sheet for volunteers.

Turning down the Internship was a bad idea. What you should have done is taken that job and offered to give the Church volunteer time (like 4-8 hours a week) for doing the accounting. This would have allowed you to repay for their help but say no to other volunteer work.

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Not OK. If your work asks you to volunteer to do your job, it’s time to look for a new job. Immediately.

It's a fine line because it's his church... Honestly work for God pays off way more than any job, but that's only how I see it. Also I understand that not everyone can afford to be a volunteer. That's okay. The only problem I see in the way this person handled the situation, was the hot headedness, quit on the spot type of thing, meaning he was thinking about this for a long time. Point 1) he could kindly refuse the Sunday thing, point 2) God doesn't force anyone and doesn't want anything done half heartedly. I hope all his work was not put in to please those people or to "pay them back" but as a service to God. If you do what you do to please others, you're in for way more unpleasant situations in the future.

I was a professional bookkeeper and was self employed. For those who don't understand, that means I am responsible for paying all taxes & insurance myself. My SIL wanted to open her own barbershop and asked me to help her get set up (taxes, licenses, etc.) I told her I'd be happy to help and that the first hour was free. She gives me a really strange look and asked how much I would charge after that. I told her $20/hour (this was about 15 years ago). So she says she thought I'd at least give her a family discount. I told her I WAS giving her a family discount as my normal rate is $32/hour. She basically told me "nevermind" and then bitched about it to my brother - who set her straight real f*cking fast. He told her that this is how I make my living, that I happen to be really good at what I do (I did his books when he was self employed) and that she should be thankful I even considered helping her. She called and apologized, but I told her working with family was a bad idea.

Did you sign a contract when they started paying you? If so then they need to pay you minimum wage, if they haven't you could talk to an employee consultant... you'll probably be told that there is nothing you can do, but you'll learn what to look for in the future. As for helping out fir the BBQ, its a bit of a 2 way thing. Usually these things are done on a voluntary level, but so long as you didn't get all sarcastic when asking about pay then it's a valid question. Quitting a job without a backup plan was probably a silly move. Yes they helped you, but charity should be given without thought if reward Luke 6:35. But that goes both ways

YTA for how you reacted, but NTA for not wanting to do it. Honestly, as a member of a congregation, you shouldn't do anything that your heart isn't in. Or try to meet him halfway if you feel bad about it. Tell him you will do certain task but not everything he ask. For example: you could find the event space and people who would be willing to volunteer. OR, if you could volunteer but only for two hours or something. But NTA for saying no. It's your choice. Even though it would please God if you did help, but not necessary. I also wouldn't have just up and quit, now what are you going to do for work? Is that internship position still available?

Boy, The Almighty sure has issues hanging onto money...

Typical greedy hypocrites christians parasites, why do these evil counts have so much power to control half the country!??? Disgusting fascists

NTA. I worked for a church for nearly 20 years, and I can attest to the fact that churches can be the biggest abusers of workers and volunteers. And yes, I am a Christian. OP should never have passed on his internship. He may owe the church for helping him during a rough period in his life, but that doesn't mean that he has to give up his future. The pastor knew full well that he was taking advantage of an employee, and probably rallied his flying monkeys disguised as saints to back him up. OP should definitely change jobs and churches.

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Well if you're real believer in Christ I'm following Jesus then you would be doing it for him and praying that that organization or barbecue would lead people to Christ that's what you should be focusing on if that's not your priority and you're just worried about money that you need to reevaluate your relationship with Christ and what your priorities are. You already said you yourself chose to deny that other good-paying job nobody forced you to you made that decision on your own so you can't complain about money and barely making it by on decisions that you made. You can be a member of the church and still get paid by the church to do certain things but that doesn't mean you have to be paid for every single thing you do if that's what you want is money for everything you do from the church then it sounds like you're not really there for God at all you're just there to make money and because you think somebody helps you out and you owe them a favor which honestly will get you nothing

Most churches rely on people "working" for free. Its called and accepted to be service to God and each other. Regardless of thoughts towards religion, churches operate no differently to other community activities that need volunteers. The pastor probably asked him because he could be relied on to do a good job. Its OPs young faith that has him thinking he gets paid for all work. But this is learned as you grow in faith. The pastor has reached out to him. He has another shot to be a part of what is likely a really great community.

Yeah my church relies on volunteers as well. Every church I've been a part of does as well. It seems this guy was on staff and maybe didn't know what he was getting into? Ministry does not pay. Ever. That pastor makes a living wage, sure, but barely in most cases. Larger churches can be different but they are the exception, not the rule. Anyone complaining about not getting paid to minister is just naive IMO. Still, this pastor is acting like a d**k for sure. If you're asking someone to volunteer, then be grateful when they say yes, and understanding when they say no. If you're paying OP already to do other things, paying for this shouldn't be a big deal. I'm going ESH.

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Churches rely on their members serving (unpaid) to get things like that done. You made it clear that you aren't anything but an employee. I guess it's okay to receive help, but not to give any.

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Yes, he may be a paid employee. I doubt that he was expected to do this entire thing, including cooking for 100 people, by himself. Other people would be volunteering in this as well. I.e. cooking, set-up, clean-up,etc. If he was asked to organize it, that includes lining up volunteers.The organizing of this thing can be done on his work time. So yeah, it takes place on his day off. Well, it's everyone's day off. He won't be doing the work alone on that day. It's what you do when you belong to a church. He's a member of this church as well as an employee. I think he should have organized it on work time, and volunteered his time like everyone else would be doing that day.

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AS for ME... I think there is another side to this story.

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Oh boy. The thing is, when you have a disadvantaged background, understanding what you need to do socially can be difficult. This church isn’t a regular employer, instead they are the charity that helped you through so much. Now they are asking you to donate time, independent of your employment, to help others. Do the BBQ - this is not the bridge to burn and it is the right thing to do. Apologize to the pastor and tell him you don’t always just know the right thing to do. Also, stop taking employment advice from Reddit and read Alison Green’s Ask A Manager instead.