Giving Well

 Friends, 

This week our Finance Commission sent out a letter with an enclosed pledge card, encouraging each of you to make a pledge to support our church in 2026. For some people, the act of pledging is very familiar. For others, this FAQ page on our website may be helpful. 

 

It is a familiar question: How much should I give to the church? I truly wish there were a one-size-fits-all answer, as if the Bible were an instruction manual. Instead, it is an open question with several approaches, each of which have their strengths and weaknesses. I will name four approaches below, and throw in my 2 cents along the way. 

 

1. One could simply look at our projected spending, divide it by the number of members we have, and say, “this much is my part.” In round numbers, if our projection for 2026 is $1.3 million and we have 500 members, so we could say that we need $2,600 per year or $50 per week for each member. That’s an easy-peasy calculation, but it is misleading. Not everyone gives. Not everyone can afford to give the same amount. Not everyone should give the same amount, if we operate on Jesus’ principle, “To whom much is given, much is required.” At best, the calculator approach to giving simply shows us the relationship between our budget and our membership. It is the weakest approach to giving, in my estimation, because it ignores the wide variety of household incomes or net worth within any congregation. 

 

2. A more familiar approach to spending for many of us is the kind of “pay as you go” approach that we use at restaurants or theaters. Thirty years ago, someone sent me an article where an economist calculated that – relative to other “entertainment value venues” – the average churchgoer should pay about $22 per worship service. In today’s economy, that would be about $41 per service or $2,132 per year (because even if one doesn’t go every week, worship has to happen every week in order for it to be there when one does show up). This approach does not account for what happens outside of worship services, including our works of service and mission to the greater community, care for one another in times of pain, educational or fellowship activities, and so on. Those other “services” would need to be additional charges, and the church would end up looking like a cell phone provider with hidden and added fees. None of us wants that and such a transactional approach is contrary to the biblical notion of the church as a body.

 

3. My guess is that the practice most people follow is to make an adjustment to their giving each year, starting with what they have pledged/given for 2025 and increasing it by some percentage. The cost of living adjustment (COLA) set by the Social Security Administration for 2026 and is 2.7% so, if that’s a good indicator, a pledge of $5,000 for 2025 would be $5,135 for 2026. There is a lot to commend about this approach, especially from the perspective of family financial planning. But, just like employers who offer COLA increases each year discover, sometimes structural adjustments are necessary. Was the base from 2025 right to begin with? Was that base rate developed during a time of economic uncertainty or prosperity that is no longer in play? If we are attentive to the structural base, the incremental increase approach to giving can be wise and helpful. 

 

4. One biblical principle of giving is known as “tithing.” The word “tithe” means one tenth, so this too is a fairly easy calculation The principle of tithing was established in the Old Testament and applied to crops, herds, and other means of value and bartering. Along with the calculus of one tenth, there was an emphasis on bringing “firstfruits” and “firstborns” as sacrifices. Those gifts were often redistributed to the poor, widows, orphans, and others who may not have productive lands to sustain them. This principle for giving was taken quite seriously. The prophet Malachi referred to the act of holding back tithes and offerings as “robbing God.” Obviously, if we do the math on net worth or income, the number per member would end up being a lot more substantial than $2,600. 

 

I do not feel that the tithe is a biblically binding rule. But, in full disclosure, it is the approach to giving that Chris and I have aspired to follow throughout our marriage, with varying degrees of success. There is something liberating about declaring that what we have is God’s and 10% belongs to the greater good. It frees us from the bondage to accumulation that every commercial under heaven tries to instill in us. 

 

As I said, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to giving. The key approach should be less about calculation and more about seeing all that we have as a gift from God and, therefore, seeing ourselves as stewards of God’s gifts. With that starting point, we can discover that generosity is delightful. Let’s practice it together. 

 

Mark of St. Mark