Annual Meeting of Denominational Governing Body Ends Early
October 15, 2015: Scheduled to continue today, the annual meeting of the Adventist denomination’s governing body, the General Conference (GC) executive committee, ended a day early last evening in Silver Spring, Maryland. A short agenda of policy revisions and organizational housekeeping sparked little discussion in the group and all of its work was done early, leaving members scrambling to move up airline reservations at a time when there were many delays at airports due to a disruption in the United States government’s air travel security computer system.
Some leaders went back to their offices around the world with new worries about next year’s budget. By the end of September, the GC had received $67.5 million in Tithe, according to a summary of the treasurer’s report in the online edition of the Adventist Review. This was “a decrease of $2 million compared to the same period last year. … World mission offerings amounted to $63 million, a drop of $2.5 million.” All together there was “a $15.3 million reduction to net assets in the GC financial statement.”
A major reason for the decline was the recent economic upheaval in industrialized nations. Pastor Juan R. Prestol-Puesan, the denomination’s treasurer, reminded the committee that the stock market in the U.S. had dropped 12 percent, the European market 21 percent and the Japanese market 20 percent. It operates in U.S. dollars, but 53 percent of the GC income is from other currencies.
There has also been adjustment in the level of the tithe from North America that is shared with the GC, as voted more than a year ago. The loss was not due to over-spending on the GC Session in July. A total of nearly $9 million had been budgeted for the large meeting, but it cost the GC only about $6 million because of extra income from groups the rented space in the exhibition hall, rebates from hotels and sales of printed materials associated with the event.
In addition, the GC raised $4.2 million from a special offering for youth evangelism called “Give Them the Keys” which culminated during the GC Session. These funds will be returned to projects in each of the denomination’s world divisions.
Prestol-Puesan said that he would wait until the end of the year to see where GC finances were at before making any recommendations related to budget cuts. Nontheless he warned the administrators from divisions and union conferences around the world, “It means it is unlikely that we will have supplemental budget appropriations for 2016.” These are extra funds for special projects, above and beyond the regular budgets for subsidies to the denomination’s world divisions.
Glad to hear tithe is dropping. Maybe some recipients will be forced to get real jobs in the real world. Tithing is a hoax. If the tithe laws were required, it wouldn’t be as easy as it is now to simply write a check based on your monthly increase. Note the comment from the “Jewish Encyclopedia” article on tithe:
“It is to be concluded that, the seventh year being a Sabbatical year and no tithing being permissible therein, the tithe of the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of every cycle of seven years had to be brought to the Temple and eaten by the landowner and his family, while the tithe of the third and sixth years was to be left at home for the poor.”
If somebody can refute this, I’d like to see it. Otherwise,come clean and admit you’ve been buffaloed.
Regardless of questions about how to read certain Old Testament passages, is it a bad thing to give a percentage of your income to God’s work in the world, however you define it?
Monte says: “[I]s it a bad thing to give a percentage of your income to God’s work in the world, however you define it?” The obvious answer is “No.” However, the key words here are “however you define it.” The original question about the tithe being defined only in terms of having been given to a church institution is the point. One of the great myths in the Adventist Church is that tithe must go to the institutional Adventist Church if it is to be regarded as title. To make sure everyone got the message, in most Adventist churches the offering envelope says “tithe” and that money must be sent to local conference organization. To be able to convince a large segment of the membership of that definition of “tithe” has been a stroke of genius on the part of administrators. There was nothing wrong with administrators doing that. The problem was and is that a large cross section of the laity did not question whether that idea had merit. Some of the tithe does great things such as subsidize educational operations. However, it’s use to fund an extra level of a already top heavy bureaucracy needs to be reexamined. The solution is to tithe to the local church. If enough people did that, one can be sure that the GC officers would quickly get the message.
Christians were never given the Law found in the Torah as their guide. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Christians he wrote:
“As long as the readiness is there,a man is acceptable with whatever he can afford; never mind what is beyond his means. This does not mean that to give to others you ought to make things difficult for yourselves. It is a question of balancing what happens to be your surplus now against their present need, and one day they have something to spare that will supply your own need. That is how to strike a balance” (2Cor 8:12-15).
How many have heard the text about robbing God in Malachi and that we should give from the first of our incomes, not from the surplus? Even in the Jewish economy the herders and farmers lived off their lands and flocks and only the surplus left over was meant for tithe. The church only taught that not paying an “honest” tithe into the “storehouse” (church headquarters) was robbing God.
Thankfully, Jewish theologians know better than their Christian counterparts. They are well aware that only Levites have the right to receive tithe of the people. After all, the Jewish leaders have the Old Testament as their Scripture and that’s what it commands. And since there is no Temple in existence (and consequently no ordained Levites or Priests serving in a Temple), then a major factor in fulfilling the laws of tithing does not exist in our modern world.
The method that many Jews use today to secure adequate funds with which to operate their religious organizations / synagogue is through the adoption of the “patron system” by its members. That is, families would buy seats in the synagogue for various prices each year. Many of the congregation actually pay more than a tenth of their income to get better seats in the synagogue. This method for raising funds is perfectly proper (from the biblical point of view) if Jews wish to use it. This is because the money is paid to the synagogue and not to an ordained Levitical priesthood.
Sounds like the Jewish encyclopedia carries more weight with you than the Bible or the SOP. How tragic!
James, Sounds like you don’t understnd the OT teachings regarding tithe, articulated by the Jewish Encyclopedia. The tithing laws from the OT have no bearing on NT practice. If the curse of Malachi 3 were in force today, it would be upon every SDA that doesn’t follow the third year tithe laws.
Maybe you should read your Old Testament again. Abraham, the father of faith, returned tithes long before there was anything like the Jewish nation or the Covenant at Sinai. Our tithing comes from that example (and that of Jacob).
Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, king of Salem, but this was the spoils of war, not the tithe of the land which Moses commanded. Also, God did not command the tithe, Abraham chose to give it of his own free will (Genesis 14:17-23; Hebrews 7:1-10).
The only other scriptural reference to tithing before Moses is Jacob. Again there is no command to tithe. In fact Jacob puts up numerous conditions to be met before he will pay the tithe to the Lord (Genesis 28:20-22).
Jesus Christ did not ask for or receive a tithe for support of His ministry. Being of the tribe of Judah (not Levi) He could not without breaking the law (Hebrews 7:14; Revelation 5:5)
So;
What’s the Biblical alternative to current tithing practices?
Do you believe the current pastoral model to be Biblical?
If so, then how should pastors/ministers be financially supported, other than through the use of tithe funds?
If you do not believe the current pastoral model to be Biblical/sustainable, then, what should its Biblical alternative be?
The tithing doctrine has been reiterated by A.L. White in a paper on the BRI website. It’s double talk and nonsense. Angel Rodriguez also enters the octagon with a paper prefaced with an declaration that although tithing is based in Scripture, EGW’s discussion of the subject is more helpful. We can fairly well conclude from his paper that tithing is based on her writings, not a careful explication of Scripture.
Paul never appeals to the tithing laws in his appeals for support of the gospel. Instead, he draws on metaphor i.e., muzzling oxen which tread corn. As previously mentioned, the third year tithe did not go to support the clergy; consequently, if the tithing laws and the curse of Malachi 3 are still in effect, some of that curse should be falling on the head of Ted Wilson and his friends in the GC.
It’s bunk folks. If you are bringing in $150,000-$300,000 a year and think you can get God off your back for 10%, which probably exceeds the annual income of the majority of SDA, you are dreaming.
Paul commands to present OURSELVES as living sacrifices, not a measly 10%.
Monte, It might be, if “tithing” provides an excuse to not give your entire being to God i.e., I give God 10%; therefore, I can live deliciously in La Canada, rest of the world be damned.
Incidentally, Monte, I’m sorry for the rude and disrespectful way I addressed you on this website years ago during a discussion on historic SDA inner city mission work. There was an issue about seeming contradictory EGW statements, if I correctly recall.
Eventually I found an article in Spectrum on the subject we were discussing. It helped me to better understand your position. By the time I got straightened out, I had been banned from this website, hence the late apology
The article on the Pacific Union Conf. continuing to ordain its qualified women has left me with tears of joy running down my face ( and I am not a crying person). As a woman in my 70th year, I know that in Christ there is no male or female. As a history reader, I know that women had very few rights under Judaism, but the Romans, “Gentile pagans”, introduced lawful rights for women. They could divorce with grounds, go to court, fight for custody of their children, be liberally educated, keep personal property in marriage, buy, own and free slaves, and, if she was not living in a home ruled by a man, she had the rights of the head of the household. ( i.e.: Lydia) Grave engravings showed that women, were titled as “elders”, and “rulers”, especially if they were wealthy and very generous. The OT and the culture of the Jews never allowed any of these rights to women and their cloistered communities discouraged these rights, even though they were lawful for Roman citizens. Throughout the ages, Jews had struggled to keep their women contained with few rights (watch Fiddler on the Roof and Yenta) (produced by Jews, I am told and set in historically recent times.) The NT church empowered women. (Romans 16) The Catholic Church stripped women of their roles and respect. Praise God for the Pacific Union’s move to stay with their convictions! Has another Martin Luther stepped forward?! Revival and REFORMATION has begun at last?! What a fearful and awesome time it is!!! Praise…
Still, that doesn’t negate the fact that the bible is male dominate: For example, Woman came from Man, All the major prophets were men, The Levite priesthood were men, Jesus was a man, his disciples were all men, the 24 elders in heaven surrounding the throne of God are all men. Lucifer is considered a “He” or male and although angels are named after men (Michael, Gabriel, Lucifer, etc.), it is argued whether they are either male or female, just as God; however it was God that said let us make “man” after “our image”. Therefore we assume God is like the image of man AND we are warned about the doctrines of men.
1) Nowhere in the Bible does it imply that God or Satan or the Angels (fallen or unfallen) have male genitals.
2) The immediate context in Genesis makes it clear that “man” in the creation narrative about the “image of God” applies to both male and female.
“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (NASB)
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (NIV)
All you can demonstrate from your argument is that the human languages of the Bible are male dominate.
“The Bible must be given in the language of men. Everything that is human is imperfect. Different meanings are expressed by the same word; there is not one word for each distinct idea.” (EGW)
“The Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God’s mode of thought and expression. It is that of humanity. God, as a writer, is not represented. Men will often say such an expression is not like God. But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible. The writers of the Bible were God’s penmen, not His pen.” (EGW)
Few of us, indoctrinated from childhood, about tithing, will now curtail our giving.
But many will re-label their contributions so as to not to facilitate and endorse actions with which they are not ethically comfortable.
I doubt that “economic conditions ” have resulted in a diminution of funds.
It is a savvy re-distribution of our hard earned charitable contributions that will impact the GC. As the old adage goes, MONEY TALKS LOUDER THAN WORDS.
It is unlikely the drop of income is a result of the last GC session (though that impact will be felt eventually). Nor is the economic dip a convincing reason (e.g. in Germany tithe and offerings have risen).
The most likely explanation is the rise of the dollar. Offerings from foreign countries drop, if the dollar is getting more expensive – but so do expenses.
A real indicator of political repercussions would be a drop of income from the US. But note: they didn’t say, income from the US dropped by 12%, but the stock market had dropped by that figure (honestly, is that a major indicator for the Adventist church?).
Whatever the reasons – right or wrong – there appears to be a certain nervousness about the financial situation … and that might be a good thing.
3ABN takes in $17 million a year, some of which is bound to be tithe dollars.