“Forget the foreign fields, we have our work to do here.”
This is essentially what the NAD is saying in a motion that they passed a few days ago in the NAD YEM. Here’s the motion:
“To recommend to the NAD Administration to discuss with the General Conference the issue of financial parity, with parity to be accomplished in two to three years.”
The NAD has become increasingly resentful of the fact that they send 6.35% of tithe to the GC, which helps fund missionaries around the world, while other less-affluent Divisions only send 2%. They are also becoming resentful that while they pay a larger share of their tithe to the GC (world field), they are not getting their way with WO.
So they voted the above motion by a margin of 121 to 90 on Day 5 of the meeting (November 6).
Here’s what you can expect over the next 12-months
NAD Unions will—through their executive Committees—affirm this tithe overhaul, and collectively condemn the Compliance Measure that was passed on October 14. The PUC Executive Committee will meet next Thursday.
The call for the NAD to keep more of its tithe here will increase, as leaders deepen their indignation over compliance and accountability. One vote per person will slowly give way to one vote per dollar.
Faithful members in the NAD, who see themselves as members of the whole World Church, not merely a 7.7% subdivision of that Church, will continue to have their voices marginalized, as progressive leaders presume to speak for them. It will be interesting to see how this divisional defiance towards the World Church affects tithe giving in the NAD—who boasts that the last two years topped one billion dollars each in tithe giving.
Tithe giving will either remain steady, or an increasing segment of members in the NAD will choose to send their tithes to ministries or Conferences that they deem faithful. Time will tell.
We will report on this aspect in 12-months, as more data become available.
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