If you are like most of us, remembering to pay bills is not something you enjoy. I try to automate as many of my payments as I can to make sure they get paid on time and eliminate future stress.
When it comes to paying tithe, it is no different. It can sometimes feel like another bill that is hard to remember. It can be easy to forget to pay your tithe each month, even if you fully intend to.
In fact, a study by Dr. Robert K. McIver, a seminary professor at Avondale College in Australia, reported that the majority of active Adventists who do not return tithe on a regular basis are neglecting to do so simply because they forget, not because they have any disagreement with the church or its leadership.*
For this reason, the recently released Adventist Giving app from the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists may be an especially helpful tool in your tithing. This app is available for free on the iTunes and Google Play app stores (iTunes, Google Play).
This newly released app welcomes you with a screen that states “Adventist Giving allows you to return your tithe and give your offerings online while you do your online banking, are on a long business trip, on vacation, or even if you are unable to attend church due to an illness. But most important of all, if you desire to give back to the Lord all of your firstfruits as soon as you have them, you can do it immediately through Adventist Giving.” This is a good explanation of the purpose of the app, but this app actually allows you to do much more.
Some of the features included in this app:
- Your first step in the app is to designate a church to send your tithes/offerings to. You can search for your location or scroll through the list of churches until you find yours.
- You can choose whether you would like to make a one-time donation or set up recurring donations. If you choose recurring donations, you can decide how often you would like them to occur, including weekly, every two weeks, twice a month, monthly, every two months, quarterly, or yearly.
- You can choose a start date for recurring donations.
- You can choose from your church’s local offering categories, your local conference categories, or the world church categories and designate exactly how much of your gift goes to each one.
- You can review your donation and payment history to see all your previous transactions.
If you have intended to give tithe recently, but it has simply slipped your mind or other life priorities have gotten in the way, the Adventist Giving app could help you prioritize your tithes and offerings. It can speed up the process of giving or automate it entirely.
Download the app here: iTunes or Google Play.
*https://thecompassmagazine.com/blog/the-tithe-conundrum-what-percent-of-adventists-actually-tithe
