Aunty, must I always give my tithe to the conference office?

4 August 2025  |

I don’t always direct my tithe to the line item designated for tithe on the envelope. In fact, I frequently look for other funds to give to. Am I wrong for doing so? 

Signed, Making My Own Choices

Dear Choices,

A tenth of your income is a convenient guideline for giving. But the argument for tithe as a biblical command is thin. The tithe was commanded of the Hebrew people in the Old Testament. The New Testament doesn’t affirm the Old Testament tithe command. The New Testament emphasizes “cheerful” free-will giving to God’s work, with each one giving “as he has decided in his heart.”

And it doesn’t say that the only “storehouse” is the conference office. New Testament giving includes much more than supporting the organized church—for example, helping the poor.

Because of the way church finances are set up, if you want your congregation to have a pastor, you probably should pay tithe. The problem: while the church says tithe is to support pastors, they classify people working on four levels of (often-unnecessary) church administration as pastors, even though they’re not. This means members have to donate much more than one salary to pay for one pastor, because of all of those offices—that affect your congregation very little.

Ellen White admitted that she sometimes directed her tithe elsewhere. Aunty thinks you can, too.

Aunt Sevvy

Aunt Sevvy has collected her answers into a book! You can get it from Amazon by clicking here.

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