Tithes And Offerings

Tithes and Offerings

If you aren’t a member of the Mormon Church, you may not be familiar with tithes and offerings.  A tithe is a tenth of your income and Mormons are to pay that amount to the Church. And if you aren’t a member, that may seem strange to you.  Why would anyone give up even that much money voluntarily and get nothing for it?

First, the money does go to projects that help the entire Church and all members.  Clergy aren’t paid in the Church—Church leaders are expected to support themselves by other means.  So the money doesn’t go to them.  It goes to building Church meetinghouses and Mormon temples around the world, to fund translating and publishing the scriptures in many different languages.  Family history (finding your ancestors, sometimes up to hundred years in the past) is also funded by tithing, as are the printing and distribution of Church materials to members and others.  Tithing also funds Mormon missionary work and instruction courses like Seminary and Institute.

So tithing funds a great deal within the Church and that’s one reason to pay it.  Like paying taxes, it benefits everyone (if, unlike paying taxes, it’s not required to be a member and you’re not exactly going to face legal action if you don’t pay it “on time”).  But that’s not the only benefit of tithing.

Mormons believe that everything belongs to God and that everything we have is thanks to Him.  In returning ten percent of our income to Him, we not only give Him the little He requires, but we show our gratitude for everything He has done for us.  Tithing should always be paid in the spirit of gratitude—in a way, it represents that far vaster ninety percent we keep and our endless blessings beside.

And when we pay tithing, the Lord blesses us more.  There are many stories of people paying their tithing when they don’t think they can afford to and receiving far more money that month than they expected, or other people coming to their aid, or getting a new job.  But not all blessings are material.  Blessings can come in the form of having a new and better understanding of something or someone, or simply coming closer to God through obedience.  But obedience always, always leads to blessings.

Offerings are slightly different.  The most common offering is the fast offering.  One Sunday a month, members refrain from eating for two meals.  These fasts are given for a purpose—they begin and end with a prayer asking for help with a specific need.  Mormons often fast for the sick or struggling in their family and friends (or for themselves if they’re sick or struggling).  They might fast to understand something that they don’t understand, an answer to a question.  In any case, fasting with purpose brings the faster closer to God.

And after the fast, a fast offering is made.  While tithing is for the building up of the Church, fast offerings are for the building up of the poor.  A fast offering is supposed to represent the amount of money you would have spent on food (although it can be far more generous than that).