One tenth of a person’s income, claimed by God as an acknowledgment of His ownership of all things, and as a means of training in faithful stewardship. “Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth” ( Deut. 8:18 ). “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase” ( Prov. 3:9 ). “The tithe . . . is the Lord’s” ( Lev. 27:30 ).
It is certain that the ancient Israelites were expected to pay much more than one tenth of their income for the support of God’s work, though some of the details are obscure. The “tenth” mentioned in Lev. 27:30 has sometimes been called the first tithe, and its use for the priesthood and the tabernacle is explained in Num. 18:21 . A second tithe ( see Deut. 12:17 , 18 ; 14:26 , 27 ) was used to sustain the people at their numerous feasts and festivals, which were intended to foster religious principles and national unity. Every third year this tithe was held at home for use among strangers, fatherless, widows, and local Levites ( Deut. 14:28 , 29 ; see PP 525, 526, 530).
As anciently the tithe was devoted to the support of the priesthood and the sanctuary, so today, among Seventh-day Adventists, it is devoted to the support of the ministry in their work of propagating the gospel ( Num. 18:21 ; 1 Cor. 9:14 ; 1 Tim. 5:18 ). The first recorded instance of tithing is that of the patriarch Abraham ( Gen. 14:17–21 ; Heb. 7:1 , 2 ). Jacob similarly vowed to pay a faithful tithe ( Gen. 28:20–22 ). Seventh-day Adventists fully adopted the present tithing plan in 1879, in the belief that our Lord made the OT principle set forth in Lev. 27:30 and Mal. 3:8–11 applicable to Christians: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” ( Matt. 23:23 ).
The tithe, or one tenth, is reckoned on the income, spoken of in Scripture as the “increase.” In the case of an employed person, the tithe is paid on the entire salary. In the case of a self-employed person or a business, the tithe is paid on the profit-the amount remaining after deducting the expenses of earning the income. No one is received into membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church until he or she accepts tithe paying as a scriptural obligation. Members who cease to pay tithe are encouraged by the pastor or church leaders to begin again to be faithful in this obligation, but, because tithe paying is not a test of fellowship, the individual may continue as a member even if he or she remains delinquent. However, they are not to be considered eligible for holding church office.
Tithe Distinguished From Offerings. Besides the first one tenth of individual income Seventh-day Adventists are urged to give freewill offerings from the nine tenths to other projects. These offerings are intended for the support of the worldwide mission work of the church, local church expenses, welfare work, and various other church activities.
“Second Tithe.” Many Seventh-day Adventists allot a second tenth, an amount equal to the tithe, to provide for these various freewill offerings. The phrase “second tithe” is thus used to denote a budgeted amount for the total of the voluntary offerings.
Disbursement of Tithe. From the very earliest instances when the “tithing principle” was considered by the Seventh-day Adventists, in the 1850s, the main objective of “systematic benevolence,” as the offering on the proportionate principle was then called, was the support of the ministry. Until the actual tithe, one tenth, was adopted (1876–1879) there were other allowed uses for the funds derived from systematic benevolence.
By the time a model constitution for state conferences was prepared by the General Conference in 1863, it apparently had become quite well established that the major part of the fund was to be used for the support of evangelistic work, and thus formed the base of conference finances. The General Conference work was at first financed by irregular appropriations from the state conferences. In 1878 the General Conference Committee recommended that conferences pay a tithe on their income to the General Conference. Later, when union conferences were organized in 1901, the conferences paid tithe of their income to the unions, which in turn paid tithe to the General Conference. Under the current system of tithe distribution, conferences remit to the General Conference additional percentages of their tithe.
The Working Policy provides that “the tithe is to be held sacred for the work of the ministry and Bible teaching, including the carrying forward of conference administration in the care of the churches and of field missionary operations. The tithe is not to be expended upon other lines of work such as church or institutional debt-paying or building operations.”
Tithe as the Base of Denominational Finance. For nearly a century the tithe has formed the base of all Seventh-day Adventist giving, the total of which in North America alone now amounts to approximately $560 per member per year. It has been estimated that today more than half the members of the church return to the Lord a faithful tithe and add freewill offerings over and above that. The worldwide missionary work of the church is now financed through a unified budget amounting to about $130 million annually, which is voted at the Annual Council of the General Conference. This is in addition to the funds raised by the local congregations for their own projects and activities. A strong financial system makes it possible to allocate funds according to need, and provides for a uniform support of the work of the church everywhere. See Stewardship ; Systematic Benevolence .