The Tcp of Church Tithing: A Programmatic Interlock of Teaching, Communicating, and the Practicing of Tithing, for Creating a God-Focused-Relationship Driven Culture of Church Tithing – Optimizing the Spiritual and the Financial Vitality of the Local Church.

By Samuel Kirk Mills Ed.D.

A CUTTING-EDGE EDUCATION AND PRACTICE OF CHURCH TITHING, FOR CHURCH MINISTERS.
The Teaching, Communicating, and the Practicing (TCP) of Church tithing: A Pastors Program Kit is designed to provide Church Ministers a combined Teaching – instructional outlines and notes, Communication programmed messages (tithing tips), and a Practicum guide (the Tithing to Grow in Christ Devotional Workshop, and the Liturgical Practice of Church Tithing), to engage in a robust comprehensive education and practice of Church tithing to achieve with their congregation, the spiritual and the sacred nature of Church tithing and their outcomes for growth in their Christian faith that God instituted with the tithing of Abraham.
The TCP of Church Tithing: A Program Kit for Pastors is a pedagogy and practice of Church tithing, for creating a God-focused-relationship-driven culture of church tithing ultimately aimed at optimizing the spiritual health and the financial vitality of the local church.
Essentially, the TCP of Church Tithing Program Kit is built on the Core Principles of the church tithing that God benchmarked with Abraham with his tithing in Genesis 14. These fundamental core principles of church tithing include the five Christian persuasions for church tithing, the rubrics of God for church tithing, the biblical assumption of giving, the faith and moral principles of church tithing discussed in my book, Church Tithing: A Handbook for Pastors.
As a Church Minister, Your Need to Improve the Practice of Tithing in Your Church, What Solutions Do You Have?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665541213

Samuel Kirk Mills Ed.D.

Dr. Samuel Kirk Mills has been engaged in Christian Ministry for 40 plus years. He studied at Moody Bible Institute, the Wheaton Graduate School as a Billy Graham Scholar, where he graduated with the Master of Arts degree in Educational Ministries. He subsequently earned his Doctoral Degree in Education from Northern Illinois University. An astute teacher and speaker in the foundations for Church ministry, Dr. Mills is charting a course with Church Ministers/Pastors that would prepare them with a Church tithing practicum for optimizing the spiritual and financial vitality of their churches - supporting local churches to thrive for the cause of Christ and His Kingdom. He is married to Nana. They have two young adults, Naa Koshie, and Nii Odartey.

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© 2021 Samuel Kirk Mills, Ed.d. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/07/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4120-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4122-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4121-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021921235

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 Teaching the Five Christian Persuasions for Church Tithing

Chapter 2 Communicating the Five Christian Persuasions for Church Tithing

Chapter 3 Conducting the Practice of Church Tithing

Appendix A: Desensitizing the Subject of Tithing in the Local Church

Appendix B: The Legitimacy of Church Tithing

Appendix C: Church Tithing Creed

Appendix D: Church Tithing Hymnals

Appendix E: Church Tithing Hymnals

About the Author

Preface

The Trend of Church Tithing/Giving in Local Churches

In a report titled The State of Church Giving through 2009, released by Empty Tomb Inc., a Christian service and research organization, authors found that tithing in local churches was at a record low. The report, which used data from evangelical and mainline churches including Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian churches, in fact revealed that tithing as a percentage of income was at its lowest level in forty-one years.

The report indicated:

Parishioners were only giving about 2.38 percent of their income to the church in 2009, down from 2.43 percent in 2008—shockingly low percentages. It would appear now in 2013 that these numbers are even lower. One can only surmise the financial health of many churches today due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

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Figure 1. The downward trend of tithing in the local church

As for the impact that the lack of tithing may be having on the financial vitality of the church (and its ability to serve outside of the church walls), here is a quote from an article in the Christian Post reporting on Empty Tomb’s findings:

If Americans who identify with the historically Christian church had chosen to give 10 percent to their congregation in 2008, rather than the 2.43 percent given that year, there would have been an additional $172 billion available for work through the church.

Why the Decline?

Matt Branaugh, director of editorial and business development for the Church Law & Tax Group at Christianity Today shares these thoughts:

◆ Economic struggles

◆ Decline in church attendance

◆ The struggle to teach and talk about finances in the church

Branaugh commented on his last point: other churches struggle with how to talk about finances, not realizing that churches must teach about how a relationship with God involves giving—As a result, if it’s not being talked about and it’s not really being taught, it may not necessarily grow into the culture of that congregation.

Rick Dunham, CEO of Dunham Company, a Christian fund-raising consulting firm, also comments on the decline of tithing and giving in general in the local church. I think the decline in giving is in part because the church hasn’t really embraced the biblical mandate around true giving, the idea of investment in eternity, in the stuff that matters most, not just putting a little bit of money in the offering plate and thinking I’ve done my duty."

Sylvia Ronsvalle, executive vice president of Empty Tomb, also comments on the decline of tithing and giving in general in the local church; part of the reason giving has declined is because churches still treat people as if they are living in hard times—even when they are not. They’re hard because people want to take better vacations, they want to get more cars; and they want to have more square footage. Churches and their members need to realize that if 100 million Christians gave an extra $50 a year, child deaths could be drastically reduced across the world. The church doesn’t think that way. It has not understood its potential power for good."

Biblical Perspective on Love and Giving

Biblically, a good number of scriptural indications show that a correlation exits between love and giving—the one who is loved more receives much in giving than the one who is loved less.

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Diagram 1. An illustration of the correlation between love and giving

Diagram 1 shows that the more one loves, the more one gives. The less one loves, the less one gives. The following scriptural indications support this correlation.

In Genesis 37:3, we learn that Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than all his children, and he made or gave him a coat of many colors. In 1 Samuel 1:4–5, Elkanah, we are told that when the time was that he would offer, he gave to Peninnah, his wife, and all her sons and her daughters, portions. But unto Hannah, he gave her worthy portion; for he loved Hannah. In 1 Samuel 18:1–4, the Bible indicates that Jonathan gave David his military regalia, from his robe to his weapons, because he loved David as his own soul. In Luke 7:36–47, Christ comments to Peter on the sinful woman’s expressions of love on him:

Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

And in John 3:16, Christ reveals the heart of God for humankind: for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not die but have everlasting life.

So that while all giving does not necessarily come out of love, and while all less giving does not automatically mean less love, the above scriptural intimations show that in many cases, love is a major factor in the acts of giving. These scriptural examples give good grounds to speculate that a decline in the overall giving in local churches could possibly be a heart issue. Despite the probable presence of other challenging causes, parishioners are possibly less loving God and so they are less giving for the priestly cause of Christ and His kingdom.

What Is Needed?

As shown in diagram A of figure 2, most pastors would agree that when it comes to optimizing giving in churches, there is more emphasis on motivating/educating the congregation to give in local churches than putting the emphasis on nurturing and developing their personal relations with God toward loving Him, from which their giving would take place, as shown in diagram B.

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Figure 2. An illustration of the optimization of giving in the local church

The Biblical Assumption of Giving

It seems that the optimization of giving in local churches is placed on the wrong emphasis—the giving. Perhaps this has been the case for the greater part because it is reasoned backward that the giving shows that we love God. When one gives, then one loves God. And so there has been much education on giving and the importance of stewardship to bring the congregation to give so to demonstrate their love for God. Somehow, this give to demonstrate love reasoning seems less consistent with the biblical principle/assumption of giving. We have John 3:16 and 1 Samuel 1:4–5 to affirm this assertion.

In John 3:16, for God so loved the world that he gave. And in 1 Samuel 1:4–5, we are told that Elkanah loved Hannah, and gave her worthy portions. These two scriptures among the others that had been cited and more provide us with the accurate biblical assumption of giving—giving comes out of love. So, love is the premise for giving. We love, and then we give. Thus, in principle, when love is less, giving would be less, and when love is more, giving would be more.

As shown in diagram B, what is perhaps needed for the optimization of the giving of tithes in local churches is placing more emphasis on cultivating and developing the congregation’s love relations with God. At present, it would require a curriculum for creating a culture of church tithing that focuses the congregation to connect their tithing with the discipline of a spiritual communing relationship with God. It is with the goal that in theory and practice, this culturing of a spiritual communing relationship with God related to tithing would nurture the congregation’s growth in their relations of trust, love, and holiness to God. The biblical assumption is that as the congregation grows in