Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Because I have many wise readers...

...AND many of you are Christians, AND many of you have moved recently (or all the stinkin' time if you are military), I thought I would pose a topic for discussion that Patrick and I have dealt with a few times.  Okay, are you ready?

With moving, comes the process of finding a new church.  What do you do about tithing when you are making the change?  Do you continue to tithe to the church where you are a member until you commit to somewhere else?  Do you tithe at each church where you visit?  Do you give to another mission during the interim with the money you would normally give to church?  Do you splurge on that really cute dress you have been eying and enjoy a nice dinner with your hubby?  You know I was kidding with that one....really....I was.  ;o)

I'll be waiting with bated breath to glean from your wisdom.


Oh, and while I'm asking for advice....should Adeline wear the green and pink dress from this post or the red one from this post for her 18 month pictures?

22 comments:

katie said...

great question...one we have dealt with seeminginly every other year. patrick and i decide upon a charity we both support and tithe to that specific charity in the interim...everything from navigators to worldvision has been on the receiving end. its kind of fun to mix it up a little during those times of transition and a lot of times we learn so much about the organization that we feel excited about continuing to support them to a degree even after finding a church home. btw...i need your new address chica!! email me at moorekt@hotmail.com
thanks!

Mari said...

We have only been through this once, but we gave our tithe to a charity until we decided on a new church home. As for the dress - my favorite is the pink and green. Of course, she looks cute in whatever you put on her so it's a no lose situation!

Momma Roar said...

Not able to help you on the tithing question...but maybe I can look back on this post if we ever change churches! ;-)

As for the dress, I like the green and pink one (and the second dress in that post as well - pink with the flowers SO CUTE!)

Kristen said...

oh man how to pick from those two dresses - she looks adorable in both of them

tithing - when we moved we gave to the church we were a member until we found a new church. we also had sold a home and two businesses and had some funds to tithe on and those we gave to various charities. We only had six weeks without a church and once we made the decision to attend our new church we started tithing there even though we didn't become members until a year later.

Jen said...

I, too, vote for the pink and green dress. I don't have any advice to offer on the tithing issue since we've been at the same church since we were married. I like the idea of giving to a favorite charity or ministry, though!

Susan said...

Hey Lynn, the pink and green is a pick for me. :)
We aren't members yet at the church on base but we give there since that's where we go every weekend. Hope this helps, and by the way she looks adorable in both dresses, but the pink and green is my favorite.
Love,
Susan

Susan said...

Hey Lynn, the pink and green is a pick for me. :)
We aren't members yet at the church on base but we give there since that's where we go every weekend. Hope this helps, and by the way she looks adorable in both dresses, but the pink and green is my favorite.
Love,
Susan

John and Amanda said...

Pink and Green is my vote! :)

As for tithing... yep, we have dealt with that our fair share of times as well and have done several different things.

We sort of supported a campus ministry with it one time (basically the charity idea everyone else mentioned). Another time we just kept it in the bank and once we found a church gave it all at once. Another time as we were church shopping when it came 'time' to tithe (we do it once a month... i know some do it weekly) then whatever church we were at that week go it. Basically, I'd suggest you and patrick pray about it and do what you feel lead to do... I don't think there is any one 'way' to do it... lots of great suggestions in your comments to think/pray through for sure! :)

Can't wait to see that pink and green dress in pics!

Renee said...

I vote for "pretty in pink" (and green)! There's just something about a cute, curly blond in pink and flowers that makes you just want to, squeez 'em!

Not sure what to say about your tithing decision, but I will pray that God will give you a clear direction on this matter. It can be a tough one.

Christie said...

I vote for the pink and green b/c I think it brings out the blue in her eyes (how's that for not being a very 'Christie like' comment!)

I unfortunately don't have much advice on the tithing. I would pray for guidance on that one. But I'll be interested in what you decide b/c it does seem like a tough decision.

Anonymous said...

i think the pink dress, although both are really cute. as far as tithing, the idea as far as i understand it is to tithe to those who minister to you. so it should be whatevere church you attend at the time. in the transition i would pray about it, i guess. personally we tithe to missionaries only. we think it's the best way to invest our moneys. it goes to ministry 100%.

Growin' With It said...

i like the green/pink dress! and church hunting/tithing stuff...can't really answer that one since we are in the ministry and churches find us. :o) good luck.

Anonymous said...

Without reading any other comments:
Adeline- the green dress-love it!
Tithe always to the church you took membership at. I believe church memebership is serious and comes with resposniblity. However, you should give a bit of something to the other church you may be attending. Another question- Do you tithe the full 10% to your membership church and then give above the 10% to other causes OR does your combined giving, including your church, outside missions,etc. equal to 10%?

Heidi

Short Stop said...

Very interesting questions.

We've obviously had to deal with this, too. I agree with Heidi...if you're still a member of a church, you should continue to tithe there. But, I think God will bless you for additional giving to whatever church you're attending at the time.

Green and pink. Definitely.

Janelle said...

Great question and terrific answers. You will know in your heart what the best is. God will be blessed either way.

Pink and green! :)

keenbliss said...

OK, well I am deffinatly the outsider on the dress question. I love the red dress, seems like it would make a brighter, more vibrant picture to me... but what do I know... I have boys!

As for tithing, we don't tithe to one church, and never have. We give to our home church in Berkeley, to the church we attend, and to several Christian organizations. So, to be honest, sometimes the giving to the church we attends falls through the cracks until we find another one, but we always continue our other givings.

Kara said...

It depended on the situation. I believe we typically sent our money to the old church for a little bit if it was a long transition, or we would give our tithe to a special ministry during the interim. That is always a tough one, but my feeling is if it goes into the "storehouse" - God is happy.

Mary@notbefore7 said...

Green and pink. Course, she is adorable in everything!

Lynn, While there is a ton of great advice on this topic, God is your ultimate guide because I don't think there is a "right" and "wrong". You definitely have a variety of good options to pray through. What He called one of us to do during transition might not be the call for you. And you are going to receive His abundant blessings when you follow His call for you all.

So take time to read all these, but ultimately just take all these great ideas to Him and give as He has led you.

I don't think it will be to the dress. But good try ;)

All that being said...we tithed at our church of membership while "shopping" the other churches. As the time grew longer and longer and we hadn't found a home church, we did begin using our tithe elsewhere, but not before letting our church know that we were no longer going to be members.

THAT was a hard time period.

God led us to use the money in a variety of ways, including at some of the chruches we visited.

Praying God's peace and blessing on your finances!

Anonymous said...

I have always been taught that our tithe is to support the place where you are being fed. If you give to a mission you are giving an offering, something above and beyond your tithe.

After just watching someone close to me go through this I saw that they set their tithe aside until they found a home church and then gave it there after settling in.

...just my thoughts on the subject for all it's worth :)

Ginger

Anonymous said...

My vote is for the pink and green dress!

As for the tithing question, we give to something else in the interim between churches. Sometimes it's a charity/mission we already support, other times it's a new one, and sometimes it goes straight to someone we know that is in need (such as one time we gave to a particular Navigator). Hope this helps!

Christin (& Gary)

Alana said...

I so want to go to one your teas!!!

Okay, on to your question...I believe in the past we have tithed to the church we were members of until we changed our membership.

And I vote for the green and pink dress. Or the sweater dress from Target ;-)

Jenni S. said...

We actually put our tithe aside in an envelope and held onto it until we found a new church and then gave the money to that church.

Green and pink (if you haven't already done the pics). It's a tough call because they are both adorable, but the green and pink is just so girly!