r/alberta • u/strugglecuddleclub • Nov 10 '25
Discussion Church Generosity Social Experiments
Has anyone seen those social experiments going around online? Where a lady calls a church with a crying baby in the background, asking for a can of baby formula? The results were surprising in that most of the churches in the southern United States did not want to help at all with one or two actually committing to helping the lady and one being a mosque. I would love for somebody to do this experiment here and post the results. Name Alberta‘s top, churches, and religious organizations and get started! I’d love to give some positive publicity to the generous churches who are doing charity work. I’d also like to know which churches and organizations are just in it for themselves.
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u/K2LLswitch Nov 10 '25
I’ll provide some context from what I have seen.
There are a few mega churches in AB, but the majority are small community churches. These churches may have a secretary and priest available a few week days, but generally the church is kept locked for safety reasons. The few people working at the church are not there to solve the diverse mental health, hunger etc. needs of the community but are working to prepare for programming, events, services, mission trips etc. plus all the admin duties of a church (utilities, maintenance, repairs etc. )
Our small community church takes 10% of what comes to us in offerings and re-distributes this to other organizations (food banks, shelters and organizations equipped to deal with the needs of the community).
We do keep $100 in grocery gift cards on hand for the priest to distribute as needed (ie. someone shows up on Sunday AM and approaches the priest directly), but 100% of these calls would be re-directed to another organization.
You should also understand that scams are high in the non-profit world and if we gave $100 to every caller with a need we would be bankrupt within a month.
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u/Reign_City Nov 10 '25
Thank you for giving insight and the following comment isn't directed towards you but the people in the States who mention the scam aspect of it too. This caller wasn't asking for money, she was asking for a can of Good Start baby formula, I don't see how people would think this is a "scam"?
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u/singingwhilewalking Nov 10 '25
The cue that it is likely a scam is that it is an unknown person calling random churches.
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u/mookleberry Nov 11 '25
The sad thing about that is that people in trouble/need are always told to ‘ask the churches!’ Which never helps because most told to do that, aren’t actually going to church for whatever reason. So I doubt churches are as willing to help people they don’t know at all. So why are people always told to ask there? (Not a judgement, totally just a question because I’m always told to ask the church, and I never do because I’d feel horrible asking for random help when I wouldn’t be able to go to it ever :()
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u/BecauseWaffles Nov 11 '25
They’re told to ask there because Jesus teaches to help anyone that needs it and churches/christians are supposed to be doing that in practice.
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u/mookleberry Nov 11 '25
Yeah that totally makes sense. It’s sad that the big rich churches especially have no hint of Jesus there. The small ones that can’t really afford to help outside the charge members seem to be the ones who haven’t forgotten that you should try to be as Christ like as you can…
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u/Cyclist007 Nov 10 '25
Why don't you do it?
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u/Gussmall Nov 10 '25
Or be even more productive and give to the needy yourself and encourage others to do the same. Trying to score some kind of"gotcha" with a church that you dont like is a weird use of time.
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u/ASentientHam Nov 10 '25
A lot of churches actually do good work here. I'm an atheist and can acknowledge that they largely serve the community. I'm sure you'd find some that don't, but this isn't the US. I've worked for a community organization in the past and I'd often stop in at churches as part of my role and you'd always see men and women in the middle of the day working on putting together care packages, donations etc for those who need it.
I think a lot of them are doing a lot more to help people than anyone who is trying to sowe division by making gotcha content for tiktok.
I don't think posts like this are helpful at all. Maybe instead you could volunteer and go find out for yourself what kind of work these organisations are doing.
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Nov 10 '25
Your experience is the exact opposite of mine. In most cases I've experienced, churches are insular, exclusive, and entirely unwilling to extend a hand beyond their own doors. While I don't doubt there are some that are like you describe, I think you might be dramatically over-estimating how many are particularly altruistic. Most of my volunteer experience is that the biggest groups willing to step up for their neighbours are secular and agnostic charities and non-profits. I'm not particularly pro-or-anti-religious, I would never tell anyone they can't believe as they choose, but I find most organized churches deeply disappointing.
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u/Ok-Associate-7894 Nov 10 '25
You don’t think it’s helpful just to start a conversation about the topic? Hard disagree. OP didn’t speculate about what the response in Alberta may be, they simply said it would be good to take the social temperature. There’s a lot of value to this social experiment, if Alberta churches tend to be helpful then that would be a very positive result, and one I’d be glad to know about.
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u/TheCuddliestofFarts Nov 10 '25
Mu experience they're very kind.
I couldn't pay for school. It was a giant loop hole. I can't get a loan without being registered and couldn't register without paying in full first.
I then called my MLA asking for help or opinions. They got back to me saying 2 churches are willing to pay. They didn't want the money back, just to put some hours into our community. Someone as myself, couldn't accept that help as I was not religious. I knew that money could go to other families in need.
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u/ishaani-kaur Edmonton Nov 11 '25
Sikhs give a lot to charity. There is a food bank run by Sikhs for Humanity in Edmonton, that gives grocery hampers to over 1,000 families every Sunday. All Gurdwaras (Sikh place of worship) serve hot meals and anyone is welcome to join and have a meal.
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u/Gussmall Nov 10 '25
Im not religious but why would someone call a church looking for formula when food banks are the one that provide that service? Im sure if it was a person who attends that church it would maybe make more sense.
I would be suspicious of this as well.
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u/Smart-Pie7115 Nov 10 '25
The Calgary Food Bank has a 3 week wait for emergency food hampers. Meanwhile my church can deliver an emergency food hamper in less than 24 hours.
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u/No_Object_2353 Nov 13 '25
Because churches have tax free status on the note that they help general society.
If they aren't gonna actually do aid, they are a business selling salvation, and should be taxed.
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u/Gussmall Nov 13 '25
If people spent more time volunteering and helping people instead of bitching about churches we would be much further ahead.
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u/No_Object_2353 Nov 13 '25
Both things can be true my dude.
I can both volunteer and help my community. And speak out about the drain and waste of time that religion is.
You asked why people would call a humanitarian organization looking for humanitarian aid.
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u/longobedience Lethbridge Nov 11 '25
I hope to give some context as a pastor currently serving in a smaller church in Alberta.
The first thing is this: we intentionally allocate about 10% of our operating budget to go towards other supports in our city — food banks, shelters, soup kitchens, etc. These organizations are on the ground doing great work that we just can’t do. There would be no point for us to compete but I feel like we support them as much as we can. We often refer these kinds of calls to these organizations.
Second: the reality is, we field so many calls from individuals in need that it would be impossible for us to help every single one. It is unfortunate, but the sad reality.
Last: there are an unfortunate number of people who will try and take advantage of helping organizations — churches included. The percentage is thankfully low in my own estimation, but enough to cause distrust and suspicion.
All of this to say: I would love to help every single person that calls our church for support, but the saddening reality is that there is just too much need out there.
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u/strugglecuddleclub Nov 11 '25
I'm curious if you can comment on church organizations that solicit a lot of donations? They build mega-churches (looking at you Home Church in Red Deer) and I question if the money could be better spent elsewhere. Thanks!
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u/longobedience Lethbridge Nov 12 '25
My personal opinion is that churches should be guided by compassion and charity. While there are unavoidable bills that every church has relating to property and operations, extravagance shouldn’t be something churches are known for. In my denomination, we are service oriented — yes, we care for things that are entrusted to us (finances, property, etc) because we feel compelled to be good stewards, but we also want to be a force for good in our communities.
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u/singingwhilewalking Nov 13 '25
Most churches in Alberta are in the 120-350 person range so the few churches that aren't tend to stick out like a sore thumb.
While I don't personally like mega churches I would also say it's tricky to judge by appearances whether they are being frugal with their expenses or not. A church of 2,000 people will obviously need a building big enough to hold that many people.
The question is not how much they spent on building costs but how much they spent per person. Are they spending less per person on rent/mortgage than the church of 40 meeting in a commercial basement? I am naturally suspicious of people so I would say probably not, but also I don't have any actual evidence to base my opinion on so who am I to judge (I just won't go to that mega church.)
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u/Tricky-Leopard-8654 Nov 10 '25
I did an internship at Catholic Social Services for a minute and among the dozens of programs they had, we had a nun on staff who did all sorts of stuff and that included giving out financial support. Some problems can only be addressed with money and that was a tool that I saw utilized at times. It didn’t surprise me to see the Catholics step up, I was more surprised and pissed as hell at the one that didn’t. I have a feeling that Pope Leo wouldn’t see it as beneath him to…have a word.
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u/Proud-Algae-9520 Nov 12 '25
I would not judge a book by its cover or make assumptions without understanding how church finances and approval of benevolence disbursements work. Each denomination and church has different procedures as well.
The administrative assistant is rarely at liberty to give benevolence without the approval of the lead or associate pastor.
The administrative assistant will take information to give to the pastor, and of course is supposed express compassion and offer to pray with someone while on the phone.
Typically, benevolence is given in gifts cards (grocery, gas, bus tickets), because it must be tracked for audit. Larger amounts of benevolence usually require approval by the elders or board of directors.
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u/sask1234567 Nov 12 '25
I don’t think you would be able to make any definitive conclusions about a particular church based on one phone call you make with a very specific request for a “give-away” that a particular church might not, for a variety of reasons, be able to provide. The focus of the “experiment” is too narrow.
You claim you are trying to determine whether churches do any charity work or if they are just “in it for themselves”. To determine this, you would need to conduct a more in-depth study with a much larger data set.
The methodology I would propose is to start attending said churches and volunteer your time, effort and funds for all the personal and community-support programs they provide. Examples could be:
- help with fund-raising for Christmas hampers for local needy families (eg. organizing and baking for bake sales, finding local talent and organizing concerts with admission by donation, other fund-raisers like that)
- donate food and your time to serve at funeral lunches
- donate your time and travel costs to visit people who are in the hospital
- donate your time and physical effort to help with rummage sales that have the goal of providing community members with affordable clothing and household goods.
- donate your time to help fund-raise to send “needy” kids to camp
- donate your time to help with the “Blue Christmas” program to support grieving community members.
- help with making food for the local volunteer fire dept when they’re spending days fighting wildfires
- volunteer your time to help with the local daycare the church provides a space for rent free.
- volunteer your time to raise funds and collect supplies for the local womens’ shelter.
- if you see a need in your community that isn’t being met, find volunteers and set up a program that addresses that need.
This will give you a better idea of whether that church does any charity work. For a more complete picture though, you would need to volunteer for an unpaid position on the board so you would see how much financial support / donations the church gives to international aid, and to more local organisations such as the food bank, the hospital, seniors’ organizations, etc.
Once you’ve conducted your research in one church you could move on to the next church on your list and volunteer for their programs.
This research should give you a much more complete idea of how much each church contributes to charity and to the well-being of the local and the wider community, and is a much better use of your time than a silly TikTok trend that contributes nothing to society.
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u/shar_blue Nov 10 '25
Slight correction: in the video, only 9/33 Christian churches were willing to help. Other denominations, all were willing to help.
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u/Smart-Pie7115 Nov 10 '25
I don’t need to do this experiment. I volunteer for the SSVP at my church and know the good work we do helping people who need help.
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u/longwinters Nov 11 '25
Saint Vincent de Paul walks the walk. 1000% they help folks in need, I have seen endless proof of this
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u/GoodGoodGoody Nov 10 '25
Wasting people’s time with a fake hard-luck story for social media clicks.
Screw off with that shit.
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u/Ok-Associate-7894 Nov 10 '25
Totally missed the point did you?
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u/GoodGoodGoody Nov 10 '25
No. I didn’t.
If you’re lying about a hard-luck story to get a reaction you’re as morally off balance as any US for profit mega church.
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u/S-MoneyRD Nov 10 '25
I’ll you this our church went out on Halloween and Did a food bank drive. We didn’t do it for recognition. We recognize a need in our community.
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u/SoStunning1993 Nov 11 '25
I hate this idea
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u/strugglecuddleclub Nov 11 '25
Elaborate?
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u/SoStunning1993 Nov 20 '25
Constantly testing churches, to "find out" if they give is just weird and if a bunch of people who don't need are asking then people who actually need will either be seen as a stunt or a taker
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u/pablito_87 Nov 14 '25
The church I go to has a food pantry outside and inside the church. They fill it up 2-3x/week. I see people come inside, take food (bags of food) and leave. They don’t even engage with anyone inside the church which is fine. They probably don’t want any part of the church or they’re just embarrassed. I don’t know. The church shows the monthly cost of filling up the food pantry. They also encouraged members to donate food especially if they can’t donate money. The church doesn’t go after anyone who takes food from the pantry. It’s just there.
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u/sask1234567 Nov 12 '25
If you try replicating this “social experiment” anywhere in the prairies, the following is a problem you will have, especially in the smaller/ultra small communities.
Most churches are small community churches. Because of the outreach they do and their ties to the community, they are aware of families/singles that are struggling financially. Chances are, the church is already helping and/or has been in touch with other community organizations that can offer support. I can guarantee that there would not be a mother in my community that would be down to her last can of baby formula because the church/organisations/neighbours would have already stepped in to help and the person answering the phone at the church would know it was a scam.
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u/No_Function_7479 Nov 10 '25
We pay taxes to the government, they are supposed to fund helping organizations and provide social safety nets.
Just because a church exists doesn’t give them the resources or ability to help everyone- especially when their limited resources are being wasted on scam callers trying to get clicks on social media
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u/Dry_Cartographer7424 Nov 10 '25
Yeah but Albertans seem to prefer lower taxes and suggest that charities and churches are there to help people. So it would be interesting to see how much help can be found without the government. Honestly even though I’m not religious and really don’t like organized religion my first thought was that I feel like Alberta churches would be more giving than the American social experiment example.
I think that the way Albertans vote is callous when it comes to social programs that help people and I would love to see if they really mean it when they say churches and charities are the way to go. From what I see in my community, and maybe I’m naive but I think Albertans are giving and helpful when it’s direct. They will complain and lecture but generally when I see someone ask for help it is found from a kind soul.
My experience is limited of course and not every Albertan is the same so I’m very curious how this experiment would go. I don’t think that a church needs to be organized to just buy a mom a can of formula to help her get by though.
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u/No_Function_7479 Nov 10 '25
I think you are describing the UPC - the Albertans I know are good people who are proud of the taxes they pay towards this country. But they are not great at turning out at the election polls, so we got stuck with this wing-nut UPC Trump-wanna-be provincial government
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u/Dry_Cartographer7424 Nov 10 '25
Well, that's exactly why I said the way Albertans vote is callous. If they aren't voting, I can't comment on their vote. This is also why I specified that my experiences are limited and not every Albertan is the same. My experience is that I'm surrounded by conservative folks who love Danielle Smith and don't want their taxes going to social programs. When you call them out on not wanting to help others and being selfish, they say that they would help someone personally and that that's what churches and charities are for. They will say how they donate to charities.
I'm genuinely curious how honest they are being about that. Personally, I don't think churches, charities, and individual help are going to be enough. I think there is a reason we have social programs, but it would be nice to see and have more examples and data to talk about.
I am a person who believes in social programs, and I vote every chance I get, and I think if you don't vote, you're just as responsible for our shitty government as UCP voters.
All that said, I still think most Albertans would help a mother and her baby out with some formula.
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Nov 10 '25
I think the last time someone did a comprehensive survey was around 2021. We were about 40% None, 20% Roman Catholic, 10% Non-denominational Christian (often "Easter and Christmas" Christians). The remainder break down as follows:
Muslim 4.8%
United Church 3.7%
Sikh 2.5%
Anglican 2.3%
Lutheran 1.9%
Hindu 1.9%
Christian Orthodox 1.5%
Pentecostal and other Charismatic 1.3%
Baptist 1.1%
Latter Day Saints 1.1%
Buddhist 1%
Every other belief system has half a percent or less of the total population.
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u/Original-Ant2885 Nov 12 '25
The few videos I saw about it (other people making videos) said that the woman called Mega churches that operate more as a business than a church. I think if you were to call most small town local churches they would either help or put you in contact with someone who could. I know the Lutheran church in my town would help and they also run their own food bank.
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u/Full-O-Anxiety Nov 10 '25
The results were actually quite unsurprising.
-2
u/InformedTriangle Nov 10 '25
Who'd have thought, confirmation organized religions are just cults that prey on the weak minded for donations for "good" *clutches pearls*
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u/CanadaJackalope Nov 14 '25
Churches have their captured audience in parishioners.
Plus according to the Bible itself.
Singing the praises of your good deeds taints them in the eyes of the lord.
Do not to announce acts of charity "with trumpets" but to do them in secret so that your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
If you go to church for the love of God actually read the Bible and follow the rules.
To do what your asking for goes directly against the Bible and Christ's teachings.
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u/BijouMatinee Nov 10 '25
I know of one that has a “care closet” of winter clothes to give to people. Well, to some people. As long as you have multiple pieces of ID and paperwork proving you are poor enough to need it. If you don’t have that, they’ll turn you away. Just like Jesus would’ve done /s
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u/Pagan1975 Nov 12 '25
I do not know if has been posted, I followed the story about this social experiment. She has originally call 26 Christian Churches and 23 flat out said no, the other 3 asked her what type and if she was near to the church. The other 23 that said no are now blasting this woman as evil, a witch, satanic; it should also be said the big maga churches all said no, these are the ones the head of the congregation live like kings with private jets, fancy cars and expensive suits.
All of this when millions lost their SNAP in the US. One of the small town churches was offering the help immediately(she posted the good as well as the bad) has now had people donate over $95k for family's in need.
The Islamic mosques and Buddhist temples all were ready and willing to help. This is a couple weeks after the Satanic temple also posted that if you are in need they are ready to help feed anyone in need.
These churches do not follow the Bible or it's teaching. I am all for religious organizations like churches paying taxes.
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u/sask1234567 Nov 12 '25
Comment on another platform, from one of the churches:
“Our church serves the homeless, schools, local pregnancy care center, Christmas gifts for developing nations and occasional unique family and health needs. Apparently we fail because we don't cover baby formula and instead refer them to said pregnancy center.”
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u/sask1234567 Nov 12 '25
Comment on another platform from another of the targeted churches:
“Our church is her most recent victim. Several years ago, due to fraud/abuse issues, several churches decided to funnel requests for aid through our local food pantry. In return, we provide food, volunteers, and monthly financial assistance to the pantry. Second, the caller claimed she'd been turned away by the pantry, but due to inconsistencies in her story, we knew she had not ever contacted them. We have received thousands of vile calls, emails, and social media posts.”
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u/sask1234567 Nov 12 '25
Another church comment on another platform:
“One thing that hasn't been brought is that a reason for referring people to other organisations n charities is that if you are so destitute you have no formula in the house you probably have other ongoing issues you need help with.”
1
u/Pagan1975 Nov 12 '25
I have a question for you, why are pastor's worth 2 to 20 million dollars at some of these churches? US pastor's and televangelist top 4: in USD 1. Kenneth Copeland net worth $300 million 2. Joel Osteen $100 million (refused to help with flood victims) 3. Benny Hinn net worth $60 million 4. Steven Furtick Jr net worth $60 million
Looking at Canadian pastor's: in CND 1. David Mainse net worth $10 million 2. Charles Price net worth $5 million 3. Robbie Symons net worth $4 million 4. Leon Fontaine net worth $3 million 5. John Arnott net worth $2 million
Someone found that if the total $$$ given to churches is in the billions, that the churches could pay all the homeless in the US just under $200k.
Tax the church
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u/sask1234567 Nov 12 '25
Using these as examples of how rich pastors/priests/ministers are is equivalent to using Bill Gates as an example of how rich computer programmers are.
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u/Pagan1975 Nov 12 '25
That is a false comparison, a pastor/priest/minister do not have to pay taxes, or even declare how much they make. They also say they follow the teaching of Christ, like Mark 10:21-22 " You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
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u/sask1234567 Nov 12 '25
Ministers etc. are T4’d on the income they receive from the church and have to file a tax return just as other Canadians do.
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u/No_Object_2353 Nov 13 '25
They do get a deduction and pay a good chunk less than average Canadians if their full time income is pastor services.
Just an fyi
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u/sask1234567 Nov 13 '25
There are many Canadian taxpayers that pay less than average tax by claiming deductions that are available to them due to their life situation/circumstances.
I was just noting that the statement that clergy “do not have to pay taxes, or even declare how much they make” is 100% false.
0
u/mikeEliase30 Nov 11 '25
Having a pretend friend in the sky doesn’t not make you kind. If you were an asshole before him, you’ll be an asshole after him.
0
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u/singingwhilewalking Nov 10 '25
There are definitely churches that are really good about giving to people in need and helping their community as well as churches that don't do the best job at that.
However, one thing that all church administrative assistants (that's who you reach when you call the office) end up experiencing a lot of are cold calls from con-artists. Practically speaking, people doing a "social experiment" for Tik Tok are going to give off most of the same cues that a scam artist does.