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At this past General Convention of the Episcopal
Church, the Bishops and Deputies concurred on
Resolution A135. It resolved, in part, “That
in recognition of the church’s tradition of
calling us to work, pray, and give for the spread
of God’s kingdom, all members of the Episcopal
Church be encouraged to develop a personal
spiritual discipline that includes, at a minimum,
the holy habits of tithing, daily personal prayer
and study, Sabbath time, and weekly corporate
worship…”
This resolution further reaffirmed
Resolution A106 concurred upon at the 2000 General
Convention. The following was part of that
resolution:
STEWARDSHIP STATEMENT
We believe... We are the children
of God, and we need to give. In every aspect of
our lives we are entrusted to be stewards of God's
creation. God invites us to give freely and to
exercise joyfully our gifts through mission and
ministry.
We commit ourselves... To boldly
claim God's abundant provision in our lives; to
offer extravagantly our time, talent, and money to
do God's work; and to practice tithing as a
minimum standard of giving.
We challenge members of the
Episcopal Church... To confront our fears of
scarcity; to embrace a new vision of stewardship
through a joyful response to God's extravagant
gifts; and to empower the mission of Christ
through generous giving.
We invite... Leadership groups in
dioceses and congregations to develop their own
stewardship statements in order to promote
response to the gospel…
Resolution A106 was triggered in
response to Resolution A138s concurred upon at the
1997 General Convention, affirming “the tithe as
the minimum standard of individual giving for
Episcopalians.”
Obviously, the
leadership of the Episcopal Church believes the
tithe to be important. But note, in none of the
three resolutions cited is there mention of the
need to pay the church mortgage, pay the heating
bill, or to in other ways support the church
budget. Tithing is held up as an important
spiritual discipline.
Remember that God can create anything. So his
desire for us to give is not because he needs
physical things that we have. But, rather our
giving up our valued possessions demonstrates our
love for God, putting God first in our lives, and
keeping us mindful of God’s gracious provision.
Tithing reaffirms God as our priority. We speak of
“first fruits.” That means giving to God right
from the start; giving him our first and our best.
Tithing develops the discipline of giving
regularly. Most of us our paid on a periodic
basis, not all at once in the year, so giving on a
schedule is a practical matter. But it also is a
spiritual matter. If each time we receive blessing
we pause to first make a thank offering to God, we
are continually reminded of God, the source of all
we have and "from whom all blessings flow."
Tithing strengthens the discipline of giving
proportionately. The Old Testament tells us that
the tithe is ten percent. Giving an arbitrary
amount less than the tithe takes some of the faith
and commitment out of our giving. If we set the
tithe, or another percentage, as our standard, we
avoid being arbitrary in our decision of what to
give.
A pastoral word here. The tithe should not be a
matter of guilt for anyone not yet giving at that
level. As your faith is strengthened through
giving first, regularly, and proportionately, you
will feel encouraged to grow towards tithing.
Finally, tithing builds the
discipline of risk- giving beyond our very human
comfort level in the knowledge that God provides.
Our tithing to God is, indeed, a gift from God
that builds our spirits. |
