Question about Tithing

[MrGrumpy222]

I'm a Catholic so I really haven't been aware of tithing. I was reading on the budget board about this family that was really having a hard time financially yet the husband insisted that 10% of their gross income come off the top for tithing. I think it was $450 a month.

Do many churches insist on this 10% figure even when the family is having a tough time. It doesn't seem very CHristian like. I was always taught that you give what you can afford to financially and do as much volunteer work as you can. Is it different in the protestant churches.

Really - I'm not looking for flames just trying to understand the differences. I always believed that charity begins at home and you need to take care of your family first. THat's not to say we don't contribute to our church and parish. We do both financially and with tons of volunteer work. I just had a hard time with the so called "demands" of 10% off your gross income.

I am a lapsed Catholic but I do know that during my 13 years of Catholic school I did hear the 10% tithing requirement during one of those. It does seem like alot. My wife is Methodist and she has heard the 10% statement too. Now that does not mean to say she heard it as a requirement, it may have been a suggestion. Hey do what you can. I did hear you can also tith your time.
Good Luck and don't get discouraged.

 

[KittieKat]

Churches cant enforce it. Its not a rule. AND it was a commandment during the old testament times. But in the new testament, and today, it is not. Giving money to the church is important still, though. We are called to do it by God, what we can afford to give. The reason behind giving is that we need to put our trust in God. We give money, and God will provide for you. You are not called to give beyond your means. A good price to give, depends on your income. But then again, im not a Catholic. But i am a Christian.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I have lived in different parts of the us and attended many different dioceses. None have ever reguired you to tithe. As a matter of fact, one priest said that he did not expect you to give the church 10%. All of your help to the poor counted. If you gave a person in need $$, that was part of your money to god. The Bible says it is God's money, but it is not the churches. You can give it to God however you like. We do support our church, but not with 10%. I know with our charity, we do out part.

As to the thread you are referring to- I found it odd to say I can give 10% to LDS and then they will help me by paying my mortgage, food, utilities and so on. So I give $450 and you pay my $900 mortgage. I don't get it. The result is that I paid $450 and the LDS paid $450. That is not really a tithe. That is just giving me back my money and I get a tax write-off.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I'm confused - your OP said it was the husband that insisted on 10%, not the church. I've never known of a church that told you what to give, but every church I've gone to does occasionally speak about the importance of giving.

I'm not sure if that OP is an LDS (some on the thread are), but I have friends who are LDS and they actually had to show their church their paystub and the LDS does require 10% to be a member in good standing. You are allowed to let it slip, but need to be paid up by the end of 7 years.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Yep--our church uses the envelopes to track attendance as well...must be active and contribute X amount of dollars to qualify for parishioner rate.

I wonder how they track mine and DH's attendance? We get envelopes every two months. When they arrive, I write the amount for each and then send them all in the mail with one check. This is how a large part (per our church) of our members do it. I know that when both DH and I were confirmation sponsors, we got our letters.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

i dont understand this if you cant pay your bills and your poor and you have nothing you HAVE to give to your church? that makes no sense to me you are only putting your family in jeopardy

someone on that ohter thread said the church would provide food and pay bills when a family falls on hard times
if thats the case then that family should ask for help
they keep paying the church so
i would think that giving time would count just as much as money and being involved i mean anyone can write a check

 

[motherhen17404]

What are the privacy laws in Utah?

That just screams violation!

We asked our lawyer who lives in DC to look into that for us. His answer, the LDS also runs the courts in Utah, so no help there.


And I just love LDS who say that the church will help if they are having problems. Yeah, sure they will help, as long as you are not a single mom. We had a friend who was single with 3 kids, her very upstanding LDS husband ran out on her (he cheated on her). She fell behind in her 10% and expained it to her "bishop" and he said pay up or get out. Never offered to help with anything. Just kicked her out of the church.

Sorry, but I think a church should be more then just a place to collect money.

 

[Spinning]

Here is my question about tithing....
How does your volunteering work into this? My husband gives so much of his time with the computers and audio visual equipment at our church. There are some weeks especially when they were converting to the new large screens he spent up to 30 hours there and research at home. All of this free of charge. now if he had charged them for creating a network and installing all of the wiring etc...it would have costed the church a mint. So does that fall under tithing?
It isn't a cash value coming out of our pocket but it certainly prevented him from picking up extra work.
Or what about feeding the homeless? I do that several times a year and usually don't submit my receipt for food. Again should that be counted towards the tithing? Luckily our church does madate tithing. Sure they would love it but don't force it.
Also who exactly in the bible said this? Jesus? Paul? God? I know it is in there but not exactly sure where.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Our Lutheran church does not expect a certain percentage. Although, once a year it is discussed...because people do have questions about what they "should" be doing.

Funny story about 10% tithing...my DH read in the bible (I think) about tithing. So......one day I look in the checkbook, and there is a check, about 10 times the usual amount. My eyes went "what is this check for $XXX to the church!!!" He laughed nervously and said "it is our tithe to the church...I know, it hurt me to write it" I go...."but $XXX!!!!!" He explained to me what it stated in the bible about tithing, and how this was the one area to test God in. So, he did. 2 weeks later we got a sign bid worth $10,000. Keep in mind, our material + labor was going to be $3,000 for this job. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to most, but our sign shop was just started to supplement my income 6 months ago. My income being a part time secretary at the elementary school district. Do the math...that one job was almost what I made in a year.

Also, we read it to not only be what you are tithing to the church, but can also go to any christian based organization...."God's work". THis is what I have understood it to be. Although, when I give, it isn't just to these specific causes. 2 weeks ago, I gave a large sum to Alzheimers Association in my Mother's name...her estate has been paying out, and I had to do it.

I also agree with the taking care of your family, but what happened to us really made an impact on how I see it, personally.

Wonderful story. We are still working on getting to the 10%, I think it is an important thing to do, but if a family is struggling I can see making adjustments.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Here is my question about tithing....
How does your volunteering work into this? My husband gives so much of his time with the computers and audio visual equipment at our church. There are some weeks especially when they were converting to the new large screens he spent up to 30 hours there and research at home. All of this free of charge. now if he had charged them for creating a network and installing all of the wiring etc...it would have costed the church a mint. So does that fall under tithing?
It isn't a cash value coming out of our pocket but it certainly prevented him from picking up extra work.
Or what about feeding the homeless? I do that several times a year and usually don't submit my receipt for food. Again should that be counted towards the tithing?

I believe it does. If you saved somebody money by giving free labor or paid for food to feed the homeless then yes.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I've heard of a few other churches that require 10% for Membership - ours doesn't and I wouldn't want to belong to a Church that did. I like for Church to be an open and welcoming place....and I don't think people should ever be made to feel inadequate or less appreciated in the building over money.

I'm not under the impression that many churches do insist on 10%. I think tithing is a rather personal issue and I certainly don't think it is a salvation issue. It is mentioned most in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament I think Jesus was quite clear on the importance of using your wealth to help others. Whether or not our Church mentions the 10% number at the annual pledge times seems to depend alot on who the Finance committee head is at the time. I've seen touted heavily, and I've seen it not mentioned at all.

I don't give a full 10% to our Church. It is a wonderful place that does alot of good work in the Community, but there are other charities that I enjoy giving to as well and I feel that it is important they receive our support. One thing that I really like about our Church is that they don't horde money. They try very hard to keep administrative and overhead costs low -- and then to send the rest of what they receive back out into the community.

 

[malibuconlee]

I know of several Catholic churches in the area that actually PUBLISH how much every family that are members donate annually. I find that in very bad taste and so un-Christianlike.

We do tithe, not 10%, but we've only been going to church again since Easter, and aren't technically "members" of the church yet. We still check "frequent attenders" on the card in the bulletin each week.

DH's BIL has said when they were growing up his parents struggled with the family farm and didn't have money to give. His dad would end up donating a load of grain (which they really couldn't afford to do) just to get off the "$0 given" list.

 

[MandM-Mom]

In our church(roman catholic), they send around the baskets, some use envelopes, some don't, we never use them we just toss in the basket what ever we are giving...Usually then after Dh puts in the $$ DD4 likes Daddy to let her put in a few too on her own. Never ever a set amount for anything, if they marry you or baptize they ask for a donation of your choice.

 

[puffkin]

I had never heard of tithing until a co-worker of mine said they do the 10%. She is catholic. She said they didn't have to at her church, but they encouraged it. She however did not give the whole 10% to the church. She included in her tithing amount donations she made to a favorite charity of hers (i think it was Habitat for Humanity). So she did give 10% of her pay, but not all to the church.

I was raised Lutheran and have never heard of this until then. We always just gave what we could. They did ask you to pledge an amount at the beginning of the year, but many people didn't and just gave what they could week to week.

 

[Missy1961]

I am Catholic. Our church asks for 5%, but it doesn't have to be money, it can be time & talents as well.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm Episcopalian...have been since I was born. Do I tithe? No, but wish I could. We aren't made to feel that we should, although we do have a couple in church and the lady lets anyone who will listen know that they do tithe. But...about this time each year we have a Sunday where we fill out questionaires as to how we wish to use our 'Time, Talent, and Treasure' for the church. That goes along with our 'pledging'. We, once a year, will pledge a set amount to the church, in order for them to pay their bills. You pay what you are comfortable with. If, for any reason, your situation changes during the year and you can't fulfil your pledge, you just send out a note to the asst treasurer and they will 'forgive' you your debt, so to speak. No one knows who pledges what other than the pledger and the asst treasurer. In my case I pledge maybe 2%, but I also run our altar guild, sing in the choir and a multitude of other things at church. But I am there basically about 8 hrs a week, mostly on the week-ends.
I have a real issue with those churches that demand their 'tithe'. Sure the bible asks people to do this, but there's a heck of a lot of other stuff the bible asks of us that people don't seem to be too concerned with!!! Give what you can give...

 

[Hillbeans]

Personally, i'd never belong to a church that felt it necessary to publish how much money I give or find out how much income I make. I am Roman Catholic and IMO, they should be blessed they have so many people who are a part of the church with all of the hush money they've paid over the years (not trying to start a debate here, but you know what I mean).

We give $20 a week, and my son likes to put in a few extra dollars in singles in the basket. We also give extra during the holidays or for a special event.

My close friend is Jewish and they have to pay $160 a month plus fees so it's close to $200 a month. Personally, I wouldn't pay that, and they're not happy about it either, but if they want to belong to that community it comes with the territory.

 

[Rozzie]

We have fallen away from our tithing since we have moved. we are aimlessly visiting churches when we happen to be off on sunday. Usually we are always working.

God does say to test him on it. We were faithful with our 10% when I was in school and quit work. During that time he had the highest bonuses he has ever gotten. Now that he has been promoted, and we moved, and like I said, kinda fallen away, we are making a lot less money, the worst bonuses he has ever had. Do I think this is related? Well it sure makes me wonder. A lot.

 

[Puffy2]

god's spokeman wants 10%, the government wants 15 - 25%, the insurance companies want 7 - 10 %,

nearly 1/2 your income and you haven't eaten a bite or put on the first piece of clothing.

 

[PaulaSue]

Honesty this is why my family doesn't go to church. I grew-up in a UM Church and all they talk about is 10%. I tell people we are too busy and DH is away most of the time so it "fits".

For a long while we couldn't afford any extras and were on part scholarship for preschool at another church. I really love the preschool (most families go to church there) but I am afraid that church will be the same with the 10% so I don't take the girls. (Our church the girls are about the only kids, their are only 2 other families with kids.) The preschool Church has a ton of great programs for kids. I have been on preschool com. the last 10 months or so to try to repay their kindness with helping out as much as I can.