How to pay tithing

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juttonn
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How to pay tithing

#1

Post by juttonn »

Just a quick note from my experience. My father was just released as bishop, and a couple of times I tried to give him tithing when I saw him during the week. He asked me to keep the envelope and bring it to church so he could give it to the financial clerk with the other tithing envelopes. He could have taken it, but preferred not to have to keep track of it during the week and remember to bring it to the church on Sunday to give to the financial clerk to take care of.

So, as of now, the best way is to give an envelope to a member of the bishopric so as not to place extra responsibility on others that already have a lot of responsibility (for which they are not getting paid :) )
jdlessley
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Re: How to pay tithing

#2

Post by jdlessley »

[Moderator note: This thread was split from the How to pay tithing online thread because it is an entirely different topic.]

For many, many years Church policy has been, and still is, that donations should only be given only to a member of the bishopric. No one else can accept donations, including a clerk or former bishop. Only the bishop can receive mailed in donations. See Handbook 1: Stake Presidents and Bishops for more details.
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russellhltn
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Re: How to pay tithing

#3

Post by russellhltn »

jdlessley wrote:donations should only be given only to a member of the bishopric.
I think he's referring to a time when his father was still in the bishopric.

I can understand the reluctance to accept donations outside of the church as it would require them to be sure it made it to the Sunday meeting.
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lajackson
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Re: How to pay tithing

#4

Post by lajackson »

Even when I know I will see a member of my bishopric during the week (including at the church), I most always wait until Sunday, just so they will not have to take it home, store it safely somewhere, and remember to bring it back to Church on Sunday. I would rather hand it to them Sunday, knowing that they will still have it at the end of the day when it is time to prepare the deposit.
davesudweeks
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Re: How to pay tithing

#5

Post by davesudweeks »

Not to mention the fact that, if you give it to a counselor he then has to get it to the bishop. If I recall correctly, only the bishop is allowed to hold donations overnight.

I have always followed the practice as lajackson. Holding my own tithing until I see them on Sunday avoids adding to their workload. It won't be deposited (in most cases) until Sunday anyway. If you simply must get it out of your posession, I recommend you put a stamp on the envelope and drop it in the mail...
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gregwanderson
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Re: How to pay tithing

#6

Post by gregwanderson »

While I can appreciate trying to make things easier for the Bishopric, it is always possible that the Bishop will receive donations through the mail. So I would expect every Bishop to have a routine for handling donations received during the week. That is, he must have a secure way to "store" those donations at home and a habit of taking them to the church on Sundays.
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Re: How to pay tithing

#7

Post by russellhltn »

mrrad wrote:While I can appreciate trying to make things easier for the Bishopric, it is always possible that the Bishop will receive donations through the mail. So I would expect every Bishop to have a routine for handling donations received during the week. That is, he must have a secure way to "store" those donations at home and a habit of taking them to the church on Sundays.
Right. But: 1) That only applies to the bishop. 2) Getting things is the mail does't follow the same process as having things handed to him during the week. Sure, you can give it to him. But he is after all human. Will he have a process (habit) in place that insures that the envelope will be with the rest come Sunday?
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lajackson
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Re: How to pay tithing

#8

Post by lajackson »

russellhltn wrote:But he [the bishop] is after all human. Will he have a process (habit) in place that insures that the envelope will be with the rest come Sunday?
He should. Otherwise he will be very embarrassed when the dry cleaner calls and said he found something in the suit coat pocket. [Don't ask.]
davesudweeks
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Re: How to pay tithing

#9

Post by davesudweeks »

When I served as Branch President (and in another location as bishop), I had a process to handle donations mailed to me, and donations handed to me. I'm sure every bishop does (or will learn the hard way they should). However, we as members, can just as easily mail our donations or hold them until Sunday and avoid adding "one more task" to a bishop's already full plate.

That was my main point (and the fact that we can further complicate matters by giving our donation to a counselor during the week who must then make sure to get it to the bishop before the evening is over...).

No bishop I have ever known will complain about it, but we all can be aware of ways to support him in his calling.
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gregwanderson
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Re: How to pay tithing

#10

Post by gregwanderson »

russellhltn wrote:But he is after all human.
...and he's outnumbered by a whole bunch of ward members who are also human. All they really know is that it's their responsibility to give the donations to a bishopric member. Can you blame them when a Bishopric member makes a mistake with a donation? We just got a new Bishopric at the start of this month. The first advice I gave about donations was to establish consistent habits. Always use the same coat pocket, for example. If you have a consistent pattern then there will be far fewer mistakes made.
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