Advice on tithing

[gopitt15]

My wife teaches at our parish school and loves it. The salary is low and the maternity leave benefits are worse than all of the public schools around. We accept that lower wages and benefits are part of the deal. However, after the birth of our most recent child, the school/diocese incorrectly calculated my wife’s disability benefits (its a self-funded plan) and wages and have shorted us several hundred dollars and is refusing to budge. For the purposes of this post I’ve tried to keep the details brief but I’m confident in our position.

If the school/diocese refuses to make a correction, are we justified in reducing our tithe in amount equal to what we have been shorted?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Bookcat]

Tithing (that is giving 10% - which is what tithing is) is not required by the Church

I imagine your Bishop has not said one is to tithe.

One is to support the Church - according to ones means - according to ones ability. That is going to differ for each.

It is a prudential judgment that one makes.

(and of course we care for the poor etc)

 

[AClaire11]

You’re not obligated to give a particular amount in the first place, but either way, I would certainly consider that justified. I hope you’re able to get them to give you what is owed.

 

[mommy_k]

When giving envelopes, it is what we can afford at this time. So if the extra money that the insurance did not pay makes your regular donation harder to afford then reduce it.

 

[Arizona_Fat_Gir]

It sounds as if you have a legal problem and may need to gather all information, then find a labor judge to help you…maybe someone affiliated with the Department of Economic Security.

If it comes to that, it may become unpleasant for your wife at her teaching job.

 

[LaughingBoy1503]

Do not feel bad about reducing your donations to The Church to make up for what you were shorted. As pointed out, Tithing is not required. I use to Tithe every week when I could afford it. Then I had to move out of my Grandmothers house and into my own apartment (I am 32, It was about time) and rent doubled and I am still paying $100 of my Grandmothers house payment every month just because she is old and only gets $600 social security every month. Stuff happens and sometimes we need to reduce what we give from our wallets to make ends meet.

 

[EasterJoy]

Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you lied to the holy Spirit and retained part of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain yours? And when it was sold, was it not still under your control? Why did you contrive this deed? You have lied not to human beings, but to God.” Acts 5:3-4

We are bound to support the Church, but not bound to support at some particular level. Provided you make no pretense to anyone else that you are tithing some particular amount and have not made a vow to God to tithe at some particular amount, it is up to you to discern how much of what you earn to give to the Church, to the needy, and so on.

For instance, your wife could have decided to work for the parish at a reduced salary but to give the parish somewhat less of her salary than she would give if she were being paid what her peers make in the public schools. The school is getting professional services at a reduced rate, so there is a contribution being made already, in that sense.

In the end, this is a question to be answered in prayer. There is no independent “right amount to give,” save that you keep your vows and do not make pretenses that aren’t true.