"The Church is always asking for Money"

Sometimes you hear people say, "The Church is always asking for money." That statement is untrue.

It is the world which is always asking for money, not the Church. When did you last go to the grocery story and the checker failed to ask you for money? Your mortgage company asks for money with unfailing regularity. If you are like most people, each month brings a new collection of bills. Are any of them from the Church? Who withholds a percentage of every dollar YOU earn? Your Uncle does that. Your Father does not!

There is no free lunch except at the Church. You can attend worship every week - there is no admission charge. If you are sick, the clergy will visit you in the hospital. Where else can you get free counseling when you need it? Where will your children be married? Several hundred people receive a newsletter each month for free.

What do you do when your loved one dies? What will it cost? The funeral home will certainly charge for its services. Your church will not. The Church building will always be there when you need it - clean, heated or cooled with nursery provided. You make full use of it and never pay one dime. No one will even know whether you contribute or not.

You have to pay taxes to provide your children "free" public education, but your Church operates a Sunday School which will give quality Christian education with absolutely no cost or obligation. The Church requires no membership fee, no annual dues. It never sends its members a bill. Is there any other organization in the world that functions that way? I don’t know of any. You see, the truth is the Church "asks for money" LESS than anything else you can think of.

Consider this paradox. Compared to the government and the bill collectors, the Church almost NEVER asks for money. Yet of all the things your money could be used for, very few are more important than what the church provides.

The Church is here to share the love of Jesus Christ himself. Our money goes to serve him. We will continue to provide ministry in Jesus’ name to everyone, whether they can afford to contribute or not. Isn’t that something you would like to be a part of?

~St. Paul’s Church. Kansas City, MO

Rev. Jack Graf:
Thank you for your question. Many Unity ministers (myself included) hesitate to talk about tithing on Sunday morning because most congregants, having come from traditional churches where they were scolded for not tithing, don't want to hear about it. Yet, as Unity ministers, we probably are remiss in not sharing the subject becuase it is really the key to building a prosperity consciousness.

Giving freely a tenth of one's income to the church or organization where one is receiving spiritaul nourishment impresses on that person's mind his or her ability to give. By tithing, our mind says, in effect, "I can afford to give." That is all the mind needs to know to build a high prosperity consciousness. If we tell our minds, "I can't afford to tithe," then we are building a lack consciousness.

For years I didn't tithe because I thought the church was just trying to make money. That resentment, itself, kept me in lack consciousness, and I was barely able to make ends meet. In 1974, when I discovered Unity's understanding of spiritual principles, I learned that tithing wasn't for the church's properity -- it was for my own! That put a whole new spin on it for me, and since then, Marsha and I have tithed on our gross income. Even when we had financial setbacks and found ourselves in debt, we continued to tithe. As a result, we didn't stay in debt very long.

Eric Butterworth, in his book Spiritual Economics, says that tithing is "training wheels" to teach us how to give. We all like to receive, but the universal principle is that we have to give in order to receive. Whatever we want to receive, we must first cheerfully give. If we want love, we must cheerfully give our love. If we want time, we must cheerfully give our time. If we want support, we cheerfully give support. If we want money, we cheerfully give our money. That is the simple Truth.

To answer your question "Is tithing really important," Charles Fillmore, Catherine Ponder, Eric Butterworth, Edwene Gaines, and to all those who practice tithing, it is important in building one's prosperity consciousness. What will tithing do for you? It will help open up any clogged channels of fear, and in time, allow a free flow of good to come pouring through. If you are interested in more information, check the bookstore for Catherine Ponder's Dynamic Laws of Prosperity, Charles Fillmore's Prosperity, Eric Butterworth's Spiritual Economics, or Joseph Murphy's Your Infinite Power To Be Rich.