Today, I was visiting with Paolo Naso, a member of the Waldensian Church in Italy. He told me that after their denomination's 2010 decision to allow ministers to perform same-gender unions, they experienced an unexpected side-effect. In Italy, one can subscribe to a church on one's tax return, and the church gets a percentage of your tax payments. After the 2010 decision, the Waldensians had a 3,500% increase in subscribers. Essentially, for every member on their church rolls, they had 34 other people who told the government, "I'm a Waldensian. Pay them my tax percentage."
Another reason to like the Waldensians: The denomination decided to spend none of this windfall on church government. Not a penny will go to a pastor, or a building, or anything related to keeping themselves in business. Instead, all of the money is earmarked for justice projects -- like their work with immigrant justice, which is why I'm meeting with them this week.
