Tithe question

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wkj_123

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I grew up in Protestant churches that generally held tithing certain amounts is required. My family has some credit card debt that we would like to get rid of. What would the Catholic position be on reducing the amount we tithe for a couple of months, and paying off the debt? Thank you.
 
The Church doesn’t have a position on that.

In general, we are to materially support the church, particularly our local parish. It is a serious obligation.

The Church doesn’t tell us how much to give. Stewardship consists of time, talent, and treasure. If you need to reduce your monetary support for a couple of months, and have discerned that through prayer, then perhaps consider ways to give more time and talent.

Also consider other places you can reduce spending before you settle on reducing your charitable contributions. Perhaps you have some other expenses that can be reduced first, or some extra income you can earn to put towards debt.
 
Tithing can be in forms other than monetary. Your time (volunteering) and talent (more volunteering) are just as important as your treasure. Honestly, at times in some ministries/programs your time and talent may be more important than your treasure.

I would say if you are a large weekly contributor, it may be helpful to your parish to let your priest know in advance so he can make arrangements for the loss of income. I’m thinking anything over $500 a month here.

Peace,
B
 
1ke said:
The Church doesn’t have a position on that.

In general, we are to materially support the church, particularly our local parish. It is a serious obligation.

The Church doesn’t tell us how much to give. Stewardship consists of time, talent, and treasure. If you need to reduce your monetary support for a couple of months, and have discerned that through prayer, then perhaps consider ways to give more time and talent.

Also consider other places you can reduce spending before you settle on reducing your charitable contributions. Perhaps you have some other expenses that can be reduced first, or some extra income you can earn to put towards debt.
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Agree with all of this. One small quibble. (Except for tax purposes) I don’t consider what one gives to the Church to be a charitable contribution. It is an obligation. Do you consider feeding your children to be charity?
 
One of our Priests years (many years) ago, suggested for those that work - to work 1 hour for the Church and donate that. It is different for everyone, some can give more than others, but as some suggested - volunteering is a great way to serve the Church: an alter server, usher, lector, etc.

Pray God grants you peace and happiness.

Winter
 
Winter_Warlock said:
One of our Priests years (many years) ago, suggested for those that work - to work 1 hour for the Church and donate that. It is different for everyone, some can give more than others, but as some suggested - volunteering is a great way to serve the Church: an alter server, usher, lector, etc.

Pray God grants you peace and happiness.

Winter
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Our Church suggests this as well. It was really nice this year - when they sent out the yearly giving statements they included a breakdown of how many families contributed at different “steps” - 50/wk, 100/wk, etc. They used this information to encourage people to move up a step if they were able. They gave the total additional amount that our Church would have if everyone moved up one step. We looked at our budget and determined we could move up a step. They also included information about how people could contribute in non-monetary ways - or the hour per week for the Church. I really liked how they handled it.
 
Your tithe is between you and God only. I

It’s your obligation but only you and God can determine how you fulill it. As posters have mentioned above your tithe is with your time, talent and gifts to the church. At times we all go through financial struggles, during those times, be sure that you are volunteering in ministry and using your talents to the betterment of your church community.

Prayers going up!
 
Winter_Warlock said:
One of our Priests years (many years) ago, suggested for those that work - to work 1 hour for the Church and donate that. It is different for everyone, some can give more than others, but as some suggested - volunteering is a great way to serve the Church: an alter server, usher, lector, etc.

Pray God grants you peace and happiness.

Winter
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Some 40 or so years ago we belonged to a parish that tithed. My husband though was out of work, and only received unemployment although I did work. Our parish priest, bless his heart, visited us. He told us that sctuslly we were paying for things through our taxes and not to worry about tithing. I should add that I worked for the dicese at that time.

Since then we give as much as we can, but I also think contributing to various charities is just as important.

I think That paying your credit card debt is more prudent at this time because if you lost your job you wouldn’t be able to repay it. Then vow not to overspend and give more to your church. Meanwhile you could volunteer and help in other ways.
 
I do not disagree with the idea that stewardship consists of time, talent, and treasure. And we should give as much of all three as our circumstances allow. A couple of thoughts though:
  1. We need to not take this concept of time, talent, and treasure too far. The precept of the church is rather specific as supporting the material needs of the church. The canon law is similar:
Can. 222 §1. The Christian faithful are obliged to assist with the needs of the Church so that the Church has what is necessary for divine worship, for the works of the apostolate and of charity, and for the decent support of ministers.

Certainly time and talent play a part in the material needs of the church, but lets face it, it takes money to provide decent support of ministers. IMO, the precept is mainly about financial support.
  1. Certainly it makes sense, in times of financial distress to give more time and talent than treasure. One often hears this. I wonder why no one ever says the opposite: when someone’s life circumstances change and they have to cut back on the time allotted to the church, how often do they increase their financial support. I suspect not very often. Again, we use this time, talent, and treasure terminology as a crutch at times.
 
Just to reiterate what others have already said, the Catholic Church does not require its members to give a certain amount of their income to the Church, only that those who can give give something.

My advice: Temporarily cease giving to the Church altogether and pay off your credit card debt as soon as possible. After all, St Paul said, “Owe no one anything.” (Romans 13:8) The interest you are paying on your credit card debt benefits neither you nor the Church but only the credit card company. Then, once your credit card debt is paid off, resume your regular giving to the Church but temporarily increase the amount you give to the Church until your lost contributions are made up. You might also consider giving to the Church or to a charity the amount you would have paid in interest to the credit card company.
 
Polycarp1 said:
Yes! When they are in their 40s and still living in the basement! 😃
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LOL

Yeah, my Grandmother still houses her 54 year old son. He has basically only lived away from her for maybe a year of his entire life. He lives rent free (He has not worked in years because he has a disability claim pending, but he would be working for minimum wage if he was) and he gets his own room as basically a storage space and he also took over the living room a few years ago. He has free range of a entire house that he does not have to pay a penny to live there.
 
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