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 “The Way It Works; or, The Tithing System Tested.” 
 
 BY J. W. MAGRUDER, 
 
 Pastor of St. Paul's M. E. Church , Springfield, O. 
 
 ■ t it tdiT jr* on ii j. .7 sJoifinoo fooRjc h;. ■ nr.v 
 
 HEN William G. Roberts, now treas- 
 
 “ " urer of Wesley Chapel, Cincinnati, O., 
 first conceived the idea of bringing “the 
 whole tithe ” (Revised Version) into the 
 storehouse, he little dreamed “whereunto 
 this would grow.” The movement through¬ 
 out the churches has assumed such propor¬ 
 tions as to indicate a revolt against the im¬ 
 poverishing methods of church finance so 
 aptly described by “ Pansy ” in The Pocket 
 Measure. 
 
 A step in advance had already been taken 
 in Old Wesley by the organization of a 
 “Christian Stewards’ League ” according to 
 the well-known plan of “ A Layman,” 310 
 Ashland Avenue, Chicago, and twenty-seven 
 members signed the League Pledge, agree¬ 
 ing to devote “a proportionate part” of 
 
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 their income—“not less than one f tenth— 
 to benevolent and religious purposes.” The 
 influence of this League was educational 
 and wholesome, but its results were scatter¬ 
 ing, and it proved to be utterly inadequate 
 for putting the work of God on such a solid 
 footing as has since made that historic sanc¬ 
 tuary a stronghold in the heart of the great 
 city, and an abounding source of revenue for 
 local and general benevolences. 
 
 The more excellent way which was after¬ 
 ward adopted conflicts with no other finan¬ 
 cial methods; it either supplements or super¬ 
 sedes them. There is no disposition on the 
 part of those who regard it as a matter of con¬ 
 science to force it upon the consciences of 
 others. Some may regard it only as a matter 
 of expediency. “ Let every man be fully 
 persuaded in his own mind.” But for those 
 who desire to “learn the truth by doing it,” 
 the opportunity is given to bring the whole 
 tithe into the storehouse and prove the 
 Lord of Hosts, whether he will not pour out 
 a flood of temporal and spiritual blessings. 
 The alternative choice between the new and 
 the old way commends itself to tither and 
 nontither alike, so that in the writer’s pres¬ 
 ent charge the motion to incorporate the 
 tithing system into the financial plan of the 
 church was made by a nontither, and unan- 
 
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 imously adopted by an official board, only 
 two of whose members expected to subscribe 
 to the tithe-covenant. ^ 
 
 A good method of getting the matter be¬ 
 fore the people is, first, by a sermon; then, 
 if the official board adopts, by means of a 
 printed statement containing, an outline 
 both of the tithing system and of the,sub r 
 scriptipn plan, and accompanied by a tithe 
 and a subscription card for each member to 
 make choice between the two and register 
 his decision. But this expense of printing 
 is not indispensable. The only actual re¬ 
 quirement is a substantial blank-book, large 
 enough not to be easily overlooked or lost, 
 in which is written, for the signature of each 
 one who agrees to tithe, a covenant in sub¬ 
 stance as follows: jj - 
 
 We, the undersigned members of —-- 
 
 Church, hereby agree, in the presence of God 
 and with one another: 
 
 cgnnano non# ‘»i£rn oj gfinidsb sTontit tcrfj 
 
 1. That we will tithe our income. , 
 
 * *''' J 
 
 2. That at, the; end of each week, we will 
 take our tithe—that is, one tenth of our in¬ 
 come from wages, salary, profits, rents, in¬ 
 terest, inheritance, or other resources—bal¬ 
 ance our accounts with the Lord in our pri¬ 
 vate tithe-books, inclose the money in a 
 weekly envelope, without inscribing thereon 
 
4 
 
 our names or the amounts contained therein, 
 and deposit same ih the collection at the 
 next Sunday service. 
 
 3. That this money shall be divided by 
 the pastor and official board proportionately 
 between “ the support of the Gospel ” and 
 “ the various benevolent enterprises of the 
 Church.” 
 
 - r f ,■ > 1 1 Jf h i * r \ • 
 
 4. That having entered into this covenant, 
 we will not be under obligation to sign any 
 additional subscription or pledge for any 
 church work or benevolence. Our dues to 
 any of the authorized church organizations 
 to which we may belong will be paid by the 
 church treasurer out of the tithe-money on 
 written orders signed by ourselves. But in 
 case we make additional contributions “ac¬ 
 cording as the Lord hath prospered ” us, 
 they will be regarded as free-will or thank 
 offerings. And for this purpose the church 
 treasurer will keep a separate account, so 
 that tithers desiring to make such offerings 
 may do so, and have the privilege of direct¬ 
 ing how the money shall be used. 
 
 5. That for any matters not herein pro¬ 
 vided the pastor and the official board are 
 empowered to act for the best interests of 
 
 the Church and the Kingdom. 
 
 n m venom oifj oaobni ^dood-orLh etsv 
 
 The private tithe-book above referred to 
 
5 
 
 may be kept as an ordinary account, or as 
 follows: 
 
 - ' /:orfr,' ‘io '1200 3ilj ?Mi>\ Sllli; -| t 
 
 Date 
 
 Income 
 
 dim otni 
 
 Tithe 
 
 ttKvu, a 
 
 Free-will Offerings 
 
 mJriy-' grfjntr: 
 
 
 
 r Aii di 
 
 *■’ ri- ■ J‘J ii fi • 
 
 
 >T':| hi sit , 
 
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 [ i , ff > *-i i ; 1 ( v 
 
 
 .! ff: rf} *.w 
 
 nerfo oj 
 
 i i 1 j y 1 1 1 *1 ! : I ) ( J f I } 
 
 The tithes and offerings should be put in a 
 separate place to be kept safe and sacred 
 until required. 
 
 The tithe is to be reckoned as one tenth 
 of wages or salary, less the cost of tools or 
 other necessary equipments; one tenth of 
 profits, rents, interest, inheritance, or other 
 resources, less taxes, repairs, clerk hire, and 
 similar business expenses. Personal and 
 family expenses are to be paid out of the 
 nine tenths after tithing, not out of the ten 
 tenths before tithing. The wife or- child 
 with no income tithes gifts or allowances. 
 The business man who cannot estimate his 
 exact net income either approximates the 
 amount or tithes every dollar taken from 
 his cash drawer for personal or family ex- 
 penses, and at his annual invoice debits or 
 credits himself according as he has under¬ 
 paid 7 0r ; overpaid his tithe. The farmer 
 tithes : all the money received for his products, 
 
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 the fair cash value of all his family consumes, 
 and the cash value of all he obtains by bar¬ 
 ter or exchange, less the cost of labor, nec¬ 
 essary implements, repairs, and taxes, except 
 taxes on land which is held for speculation. 
 
 The tithing system goes into effect in a 
 church as soon as one member has adopted 
 it. Others will follow. Nontithers desir¬ 
 ing during the year to change from the sub¬ 
 scription plan should sign the tithe-covenant 
 at once, but not begin to put their tithe 
 money into unmarked envelopes until after 
 they have paid the amount still due on their 
 subscriptions, and squared their accounts 
 witb the church treasurer. 
 
 The relative amount of tithe money which 
 the pastor and officials, appropriate for the 
 support of the Gospel and the various benev¬ 
 olent enterprises will varydrom year to year. 
 One church begins by paying seven.t-y-five 
 cents out of every dollar to current expenses, 
 and twenty-five cents tp; benevolences; an¬ 
 other pays forty-two and a half cents to cur¬ 
 rent expenses, fifteen cents to 4 repair and 
 improvement fund, and forty-two and a half 
 cents to benevolences; and another, thirty- 
 three and a third cents to currept expenses, 
 and sixty-six. and tw.o thirds cents, to benevo¬ 
 lences. A$ the number of dithers grqws and 
 the receipts increase the relative amoupt ap- 
 
propriated to benevolences will steadily rise, 
 until there is enough and to spare for “outside 
 demands.” Besides the eight General Con¬ 
 ference benevolences, and the two Woman’s 
 Missionary Societies, there will be surplus 
 money for local and interdenominational 
 enterprises and charities. The people of our 
 own denomination, with an annual income 
 estimated by the bishops at $500,000,000, 
 will then discover that the tithing system, 
 instead of being a scheme for raising money 
 for struggling churches, is a plan of finance 
 for the world-wide kingdom of God. 
 
 But it must not be supposed that this or 
 any other system is self-operative. Said Mr. 
 Jacob Sleeper to the Hon. Alden Speare, 
 “Giving is an education, a thing we should 
 all religiously cultivate.” As Christian 
 stewards we need to be taught that naught 
 of the things which we possess is our own—it 
 is God’s own; that we are not at liberty to 
 do with it as we please, but only as God 
 pleases. And he certainly is not pleased 
 that the people of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church should be paying for the propagation 
 of the Gospel at home and abroad less than 
 one half of a tenth of their income. Let us 
 prove the good faith of the Christian stew¬ 
 ardship which we profess by paying one 
 tenth cash down and adding free-will offer- 
 
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 ings according as the Lord shall prosper us. 
 “Mercy” or “necessity” may exempt one 
 from the law of the tithe, as it sometimes 
 does from the law of the Sabbath. But “the 
 poor widow ” who might take advantage 
 of this exception is usually the one to cast 
 in all that she has, “ even all her living.” 
 The poor put to shame the self-supporting, 
 the well-to-do, and the rich. It is time we 
 were raising our standard of liberality. 
 Conscience must be enlightened. Let us 
 train the children, organize Epworth League 
 Tithing Bands, agitate the Church, distrib¬ 
 ute literature, preach sermons, hold tithe 
 conferences. Let the leaven work till the 
 Church is transformed and 
 
 “His kingdom spread from shore to shore.” 
 
 December 9, 1898. 
 
 35 Cents per Hundred Copies. 
 
 RINDGE LITERATURE DEPARTMENT, 
 150 Fifth Avenue, New York City. 
 
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