SOUTH CARIBBEAN CONFERENCE
Cor. Eastern Main Road & Deane Street
St Augustine
Port of Spain, Trinidad, W.I.
Tele: (868) 662-7024/5356/6121/6122
Fax: (868)645-3551
A Reference Guide
To Informed Giving
II Corinthians 9:12 NIV
“This service that you perform is not only supplying the
needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many
expressions of thanks to God.”
Topics included in this guide
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An ageless formula for prosperity
A brief look at the tithe slip
General use of the tithe
Where is the storehouse
Systematic giving
Local Congregation needs
Local Conference needs
Worldwide Church needs
Personal choice giving plan
Estate Planning
An ageless Formula for ProsperityThe Biblical Perspective
1.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in mine house, and
prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of
hosts, if I will not open you the windows of
heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive
it. And all nation shall call you blessed: for
ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the
Lord of hosts. –Malachi 3:10, 12 (KJV)
2.
“Give, and it shall be given unto
you; good measure, pressed down
and shaken together, and running
over, shall men give into your
bosom. For the same measure
that ye mete withal, it shall be
measured to you again”
Luke 6:38 (KJV)
God’s greatest delight is in the
fulfillment of his own promises.
When a man returns to Him, His
portion. God honors His promise
and rewards that man’s
faithfulness. God’s prosperity is
not limited to material
possession. He blesses in every
way.
A Brief look at the Tithe Slip
* Tithe – for the work of Gospel ministry
* Offerings : 60-20-20
Local church 60%;
Conference Dev.20%
World Missions,20%
The General Use of the Tithe
“The portion that God has reserved for Himself is
not to be diverted to any other purpose than that
which He has specified. Let none feel at liberty to
retain their tithe, to use according to their own
judgment. They are not to use it for themselves in
emergency, nor to apply as they see fit, even in
what they may regard as the Lord’s work. Not
even the minister should retain and apply it (the
tithe) according to his own judgment because he is
a minister.”
Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 247, 248.
Where is the Storehouse?
The question, Where should the tithe be
sent often comes up in the church.
However, the Bible is explicitly clear about
this. “Bring ye all the tithes into the
storehouse….”
– Malachi 3:10 (KJV)
In O.T. times the tithe was used for
the temple services.
“When God
delivered Israel form Egypt….
He
told them again about the tithing
system and the support of the
services of the tabernacle.” -In
of the Storehouse by G. Edward Reid.
Search
It is God – not the church – who
determines the use of the tithe. His
command is to return the tithe by
placing it in the offering plate at the
organized
community.
church
in
your
local
The Worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, which
is governed by the General Conference and organized
on different levels to carry out the work of God in the
world, is God’s storehouse. The Spirit of Prophecy
supports this teaching. “…let our gifts be not to one
another, but to the house of God … shall we not turn
all our offerings into God’s treasury? … Will those
who profess to be Christians see this matter in its
true bearing?
Will they awake to a sense of their
obligation to God, and render to Him His own?”
Adventist Review & Sabbath Herald, December 8, 1896m p. 2.
Salvation is free to all, but the work of carrying the good
news of salvation to the seven billion plus inhabitants in the
world, costs money – money to pay all categories of
workers, money for evangelism, money for Bibles, and other
reading materials, money to build churches, schools, and
health institutions – and the list goes on. A major aspect of
the gospel work is the care of humanity – addressing the
physical, social, and spiritual needs of people. For these
reasons, and more, God has designed the tithing and
offering system. God has made every provision to met that
cost. We become a channel of blessing when we return
God’s tithe and give a systematic, sacrificial offering. And in
return, He blesses us abundantly.
The Blessings of Systematic Giving
Because of the biblical principles and encouragement
of the early church pioneers, returning a faithful tithe
(10% of gross income) and giving a systematic,
sacrificial offering was established as a norm for God’s
people. This is a biblical principle. The Old testament
speaks of the Israelites giving up to a quarter (25%) of
their
income
to the
temple.
The
first
ten
percent(10%) was for the support of the priesthood.
The rest was offerings, given to support the poor and
other forms of the work of God.
Ellen G. White wrote,
“The contribution
required of the Hebrews for religious and
charitable purposes amounted to fully one
fourth of their income. So heavy a tax upon
the resources of the people might be expected
to reduce them to poverty; but, on the
contrary, the faithful observance of these
regulations was one of the conditions of their
prosperity.” -
Patriarchs & Prophets, p. 527.
Local Congregation Needs
Ellen G. White wrote, “His people today are
to remember that the house of worship is
the Lord’s property and that it is to be
scrupulously cared for. But the funds for this
work are not to come from the tithe but
from freewill offerings.“ vol. 9, p. 248.
Testimonies for the Church,
The local church has many ministry– related
needs
and
maintenance,
operational
Sabbath
costs:
School
utilities,
supplies,
Christian Education and Evangelism, among
other expenses. These needs are met by the
systematic giving of freewill offerings and
special gifts by the church members.
Worldwide Church Needs
The liberality of each church member is
helping to fulfill the gospel commission to
all the world. The Lord has blessed His
church with significant growth through the
years. The world membership now stands
at 15, 435,470 (June 30, 2007) and
continues to grow by the thousands every
day.
The General Conference supports over
one thousand (1000) full-time
missionaries around the world and
fund hundreds of Global Mission
projects every year.
The General Conference supports over
one thousand (1000) full-time
missionaries around the world and
fund hundreds of Global Mission
projects every year.
The ratio of S.D.A. to non S.D.A. in
Trinidad is 1 to 90 based on an active
membership of 15,000. The world ratio is 1
to 400 plus and rising. The church must
confront
the challenge
of taking the
everlasting gospel to the entire world,
despite the cost, we must rise to the
occasion.
KNOWING HOW THE
TITHE DOLLAR IS
UTILISED
EDUCATION
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Trinidad
operates seven (7) privately funded and five (5)
state-assisted primary schools; three (3) privately
funded secondary schools and provide supervision
for more than ten (10) pre-schools. (17.5) cents
of each tithe dollar is given to subsidize the cost
of Christian education in the Conference.
RETIREMENT
The work of the S.D.A. church in Trinidad started in
1891. Since then, many of our workers have passed
on and are awaiting the second Coming of Jesus.
Many who have served long and hard are presently
enjoying retirement. Others are planning for their
retirement as they look forward to that day (should
time permit) when the baton would be passed on to
younger workers. (12.5) cents of each tithe dollar is
placed into a retirement fund to assist our retired
workers in their golden years
Caribbean Union Conference
This administrative level of the church supervises
the development of the church in the Caribbean.
Ten (10) cents of each tithe dollar goes to the
Caribbean Union to support the work of the
church in the Caribbean territory.
Inter-American Division
This administrative level of the church coordinates
the development of the work in one of the thirteen
divisions of the World Church. Some countries
making up our Division are: Cuba, Haiti, Mexico,
Venezuela, Colombia, the Caribbean islands and
others. Ten (10) cents of each tithe dollar is
given to the Inter-American Division.
Publishing Ministry
The publishing work is to a large extent self
sufficient. Half (0.5) of a cent of each tithe
dollar is given for the purpose of assisting
literature evangelists and promoting the work of
the publishing ministry.
Administration
The operation of the Conference is conducted in a
manner to obtain maximum value for/ every dollar
spent. The cost of operating the office, subsidies to
departments, funding the work of evangelism, and
salaries are major funding activities of the
Conference. (46) cents of each tithe dollar is
used to cover the cost of administering the
operation of the Conference.
Savings
Every good steward saves a portion of his
income and the Conference is no different
Three and one half (3.5) cents of each
tithe dollar is reserved by the conference as a
savings.
Local Conference Needs
A conference with 157 churches and companies. 15
schools including 3 secondary schools, more than
260 full-time employees and one resort surely has
needs. The daily operational costs of the South
Caribbean Conference
management.
require wise financial
The majority of funds the Conference
expends come from tithes returned by
faithful members. However there are areas
of expenditure that cannot be funded by
the tithe. Most of these are in the area of
capital development (buildings & fixtures).
Personal Choice Giving (60-20-20)
The philosophy of giving in the Seventh-day
Adventist church is one that encourages
our members to give unselfishly to the
mission of the church, both at home and
abroad.
From all the offerings collected 60% of it
stay with the local church to fund its
operations. 20% of it is used by the
Conference for the purpose of capital
development; and
20% is sent to the
General Conference to advance the mission
of the church around the world.
Estate Planning and Distribution
The
South
Caribbean
Conference
has
competent personnel to counsel members as
a free service in planning their family’s estate.
Help is available to prepare documents for:
charitable gifts; and wills. Anyone who need
assistance in these areas may call the
Stewardship and Trust Services department
of the Conference at 662-6121/2.