Q: Where does the tithe go once it is given to the local Adventist church? — G.R., from the United States
A: The church treasurer sends all tithe to the local conference. From there, the local conference sends a portion of the tithe to the Union level. A portion is then sent to the Division, which, in turn, sends a portion to the world church headquarters.
Since you are writing from a country within the North American Division (NAD), it is appropriate to ask Tom Evans, treasurer for the NAD, this question. Here is his e-mailed response:
“In looking at the 100 percent tithe for 2017, here is where it goes: 100 percent of the tithe received at the local church goes to the [local] conference.
- The conferences send 9 percent of their tithe to the Unions
- The unions send 10 percent of the 9 percent to the North American Division (NAD)
- The local conferences send to the NAD 15.5 percent of the tithe
- The NAD sends 6.6 percent of the 15.5 percent to the General Conference
He adds, “The NAD for 2017 will send back to the unions and conferences from the funds received 23 million [U.S. dollars] for education and 13.7 million for evangelism.”
The percentages vary somewhat depending on the world division, but this outlines a typical pathway of where the tithe goes.
To learn more about how the tithe is used to further God’s work, I encourage you to read the official guidelines on “The Use of Tithe.”