Featured What should a pastor do with his tithe?

What she said. :thumbsup:

 

When the religious establishment and the civil authority were the same then the tithe was given to them. Today it is impossible to give the tithe to that storehouse.

A good read is A Biblical and Theological Analysis of Tithing: Toward a Theology of Giving in the New Covenant Era

can be downloaded at http://works.bepress.com/david_croteau/The same author also wrote an excellent book You Mean I Dont Have to Tithe?: A Deconstruction of Tithing and a Reconstruction of Post-Tithe Giving (McMaster Theological Studies) (2010) that is well worth reading.

 

What they both said :thumbs:

 

Can't rightly expect folks to tithe and give sacrificaly if the pastor isn't willing to lead by example.

 

and on this we agree.

 

Which is one reason why we decided to send our tithe elsewhere. In a tiny church in a small town, there are no secrets, especially when certain families "run" churches.

We learned this the hard way. Yes, we believe in giving, but I doubt we will ever tithe to a church where my dh pastors as a result of some things that happened at our last church. We will send our tithe elsewhere.

 

Does your husband preach that the members are to tithe to the church or just to tithe anywhere they choose? I am not arguing, i am just wondering.

 

I don't know about what others do, but we give just like everyone else, we don't make a big deal about it misdirecting or calling attention to our offering envelope. The folks who count and keep records know how much we give, but we don't police them to make sure they don't tell anyone.

It is one of the costs of being a pastor at this church. We list my salary so everyone knows and there is a wide variety of offering counters and record keepers that know what we give, just part of the deal.

I don't worry about what other folks know or don't know.

 

Something else we agree on.

 

Quandaries like this only exist if there is latent mistrust between a pastor and his people, such that each views the other as some sort of adversary that must be kept in check.

At our church, there is a small (3-4 people) group of people that count the money each Sunday, so they see all the checks and know what people give, including the pastors (Who give to the church, which I believe they should). That small counting group gives the numbers tot he secretary to record so she can send out end-of-the-year tax reports for people to deduct. None of theses people share what individuals give. They Tell us (pastors) what the total offering was for the week, we don't know what individual members give, except on rare occasions when someone hands us a check directly. I have been working under our Senior pastor for nearly 6 years, and I myself do not know what he gives. I know he believes scripture teaches a tithe (I don't), so I could probably figure out pretty close.

The congregation does know what each pastor's salary is, and I suspect that our senior pastor, like myself (a mere underling pastor), would be happy to show his finances & giving to any individual who was concerned about it...but we feel no need to announce our tithe at the business meeting every other month. No one's ever asked me.

 

A pastor should tithe to the church he pastors. If he cannot then he should pastor elsewhere.

 

I agree.

We should give in secret, but if our gifts become known because of someone else's actions, we are not responsible for what they do. We shouldn't let ourselves be discouraged from doing the right thing just because other may not or will try to use it against us.

We should not give to impress others, but to show our love and trust in God. I think everyone who has posted in this thread agrees with that.