That is unusual. Were you weird about it, or requesting something in return? A minister friend of mine actually gave HIS spare car to a family that needed it. I don't understand why somebody would turn away something as usefull as a car.Unless, of course it was a Daihatsu. Then I understand... Just kidding, I miss my crappy old Daihatsu Charade. 3 cylinders, 1 liter engine...It was given to me when I was in need, and eventually I gave it to someone else when I replaced it. He needed it.

I am a minister. Anyway, don't be too quick to judge. You only asked two churches. If you really wanted to give your car to a needy family, you should have tried harder. You may have found one able to take it.For example, I don't know of anyone in my congregation that needs a car right now. That's not the same thing as refusing your donation. You probably would have had better luck trying a large community service organization that had contact with a lot more families.As for the minister who said your story sounded weird, it's true. A donation of a car is highly unusual and gives the church and the minister a lot more problems than maybe you realize.I know that you were just being kind. But think about it from the minister's perspective for a minute. If he doesn't know you, how does he know your car isn't stolen?If he's not a mechanic (I'm not!), how does he know the car won't break down? This matters if you think about a possible little old widow lady that would receive the car, and then get stuck on the side of the road somewhere. And a needy family probably doesn't have the resources to fix the car.And in today's overly litigous society, the church could be held liable if someone gets hurt because of that car.You were giving those churches a lot more potential hassle than maybe you realized.There are charitable organizations out there that are set up to take donated cars. That might have worked better. Or you could have sold the car, then given the $1,000 to the church, with the specific instruction that it go to a needy family.