Do Religious Bodies 'have duty to their members'?

What kind of duty?

Unlike how companies have a duty to their investors, religious bodies certainly do not have a contractual duty to their members. Religious bodies merely have a 'moral' duty. And we often prefer to believe that because religious bodies are 'moral' entities, that this 'moral' duty will be carried out in good faith.

As a religious body, City Harvest Church has collected SGD38.6 million in tithes and offerings in financial year of 08/09. This revenue size is comparable to that of listed SMEs such as Old Chang Kee. With a 'membership' base of 33,000, this translates to contributions of about SGD100 per head per month.

Do these 'members' have a right to question the direction/financial decisions of the Church, attend annual general meetings etc? Apparently not, unless you are in the executive committee.

In reality and in terms of consumption pattern, these 'members' relationship with the Church is similiar to that between customers and commercial companies. i.e. paying SGD100 for a service on a regular (monthly) basis.

However, in terms of 'consumer rights', these 'members' are worse off than regular customers because a regular commercial transanction (e.g. to purchase a curry puff from Old Chang Kee, a ticket to attend a Mayday rock concert or a membership to a spa/country club) is protected by some laws, e.g. contract, and these are in turn administered by decidated public units, e.g. the courts, Small Claims Tribunal etc.

In other words, these 'members' are literally 'consumers without rights'.