History of Stewardship
and Systematic
Benevolence
GENERAL CONFERENCE
Stewardship Ministries
2010-2015
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Welcome to a practical
seminar
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Objectives:

We are going to study the history
of the Stewardship Ministries
Department and the systematic
benevolence.
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Objectives:

This is related to the history of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church, and
the history of Christianity.
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The History of Christianity
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Christianity was at first considered a
Jewish sect.
54-68 Nero persecuted the church.
250 – Decio required an offering for the
Roman gods and the emperor.
303 Dioclecian started persecuting the
Christians.
313 Constantine instituted religious
tolerance through the Edict of Milan.
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History of Christianity
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325 - Council of Nicaea.
1054 – The great division within
the eastern and western churches.
1517 - Luther’s reformation.
534 – Calvin’s reformation.
1534 – The reformation in England.
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Unit 1
1833
 The doctrine of the
end time created a
spiritual revival.
 William Miller
preached about the
2,300 days prophecy.
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The Great Disappointment.
In 1844:
Christ would come.
 The earth would be purified.
 The saints would go to
heaven.

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The Reality.
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Christ did not come. Confusion,
doubt, disappointment
destroyed advent believers.
The two main groups were the
evangelical adventists and the
Seventh-day Adventists.
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Adventist History
 There was no formal
organization between
1844-1854.
 Tent evangelism
increased the attendance
and also the membership.
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The 1857 crisis.
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No remuneration for ministers.
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Some members gave financial help to
the itinerant preachers.
Pastor Loughborough received food and
ten dollars for a four month evangelistic
campaign.
Pastors worked during the week in order
to provide support to their families.
One day’s pay was equivalent to 0.50
cents.
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Volunteer Work.
Brothers Palmer and Blacksmith gave a
$5.00 gold coin to each preacher who
visited their church.
Thus during the years 1857 and 1858
the situation became critical, for they
had no church organization and no
church treasurer.
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Effects of the Recession.
. The contributions diminished
drastically.
 The groups of believers grew
but the amount of available
pastors diminished.
 The churches cried out for
pastoral help.
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What to
Do?
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E. G White told them:
They should study the Scriptures, for
there they would find the solution.
They named a commission
made up of:
J.N. Andrews
J.B. Frisbie and
J. White
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Basic Points:
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Their report was based on the teachings
of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:2
1. Every first day of the week
(regularity).
2. Every one (participation).
3. Set aside something (provision).
4. As God prospered them (proportion)
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Recommendation:
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The plan they recommended was
called Systematic. Benevolence.
In the beginning the plan consisted
of supporting the church with
weekly contributions.
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Suggested Participation.
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Men: From 2-25 cents per
week.
Ladies: 1-10 cents per week.
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Contribution:
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Those who owned property
added between 1-5 cents for
each $ 100 of annual increase in
the value of their property.
This plan of the Church in Battle
Creek was published in the
Review and Herald of Feb. 3,
1859.
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1875–Consulting the Review
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If I earn $ 1 a day, 0.10 belongs to
God. Is this money all given to
Systematic Benevolence (S.B.), or
can I give 5 cents to SB and the
rest to other church needs?
Uriah Smith’s answer was to follow
the model of 02-25 or 01-10.
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Results?
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Many of the members slowly
adopted this plan.
At the Annual Council of 1876 the
principle of 10% tithe was
reaffirmed.
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1878
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The General Conference voted
that all conferences should
send 10% of their income to
the G.C. as tithe.
The institutions would do the
same from their gain.
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Urgent Request.
The General
Conference urged
the world church
to set aside a
weekly
tithe (1879).
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We should remember that:
In the beginning systematic
benevolence was a weekly
contribution.
 After a while the idea was
accepted to give a tithe as
did Israel.
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1859-1969
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For 110 years the church
developed in differents
countries of the world.
The financial support for this
growth was based on tithes
and offerings.
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Structure:
 Churches and companies.
 Conference. (1860)
 Union. (1901)
 General Conference. (1863)
Divisions are considered as
regional offices of the G. C.
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1966
The General Conference invited
the churches to participate in:
1. A Spiritual Revival.
 2. A World Evangelism, and
 3. A Spirit of Sacrifice.
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1967-Stewardship
Programs:
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1. For the church member based
on a Systematic Benevolence.
2. For the local church based on
the Combined Budget Plan.
3. For the Conference based on
the Development Plan.
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Results.
The systematic benevolence
within the concept of the
Combined Budget greatly
impacted the world church
and became what we
know as Personal
Giving Plan (PGP)
Next s
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1969-1994
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For 25 years Combined Budget
Plan proved to be a blessing.
In 1994 there was a Stewardship
Summit in Cohutta Spring to
analyze and review the systematic
benevolence plan around the
world.
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World Decision:
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Each Division would adopt the model
that they could best understand.
The model that was adopted would have
the official support of the respective
committees.
The concept of giving support to the
local church, the conference and the
world-wide work was consolidated.
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Three differents options:
 1. Calendar of Offerings-COO.
 2. Personal Giving Plan-PGP.
 3. Combined Offering-COP.
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What’s the difference?
While the tithe is treated the same
way in each option, the offerings
are treated differently in order to
be of more practical benefit to the
church in its own context.
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Difference:
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In the Adventist Church the
tithe is used exclusively for the
proclamation of the gospel.
The offerings are to promote
the physical development of
the church.
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Tithes and Offerings:
For the
Ministries
proclamat
based on
ion of the
church
gospel and
interests
operation
and
of the
assumed
church.
needs
Tithes
For
physical
development of the
church.
Offerings
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The Tithes support…
 The pastoral ministry.
 The running of the conference.
 Meetings, congresses and
sessions.
 Departmental support.
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The Offerings…
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Support the world missions.
Help with church construction.
Support the development of
schools.
Facilitate the functioning of
the local church.
Help with local church
projects.
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What is the best option?
The church, with the help of the
church board, should consider
the advantages of the
Next
Different options.
screen
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What should I do?
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Upon receiving God’s blessings I
should first of all separate the tithe.
I should decide how much my
offering will be. The offering could
be equal to (=), greater (+) or less
(-) than the tithe.
I must determine what portion I
will give as regular offering and
what portion as special offering.
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Remember:
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For the offering to be of a
sweet savor to the Lord…
You must bring the best to the
Lord. Only God and you will
know if this is the best. The
offering will then be
acceptable.
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With the cheerful and
voluntary support the
church will continue its
march to Zion.
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History of Stewardship
and Systematic
Benevolence
GENERAL CONFERENCE
Stewardship Ministries
2010-2015
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