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Just thought that others would like to know that at the end of the year, bishops must log in to their Leader/Clerk website and mark how each member should be declared in regards to tithing. I think the options are: full, partial, none.
No where that I can see is there an algorithm that automatically deactivates a temple recommend when “partial” or “none” is selected.
Last year my husband had to manually mark every active and partially active member of our ward, whether they came in for tithing settlement or not.
He was able to see when/how much each member donated if he had not met with them first. He had to make judgement calls then. He a little uncomfortable because he was making a declaration for members without their input.
Neither one of us thought that seemed right, even if he is a common judge for the time being.
He was generous with his declarations and felt that most people were probably doing their best. I don’t know how other bishops handle this.
I guess I would suggest that if anyone wanted to make sure that their records reflected what they felt as far as tithing goes, then either attend tithing settlement or send a message to your bishop with your declaration.
I’m not sure anyone’s TR gets cancelled due to tithing settlement declaration, at least I haven’t seen that here. I have not been to tithing settlement in decades. I refuse to go. My bishop made this same plea to me a few years ago “But I have to mark if you’re a full tithe payer or not and if you don’t come I don’t know.” I told him to do what he felt was right and that I didn’t particularly care about this administrative stuff and I had better ways to spend my time. He has not said a word since. Tithing settlement should be eliminated. As far as I can tell it has no purpose other than generating a statistic. QuestionAbound wrote:
Last year my husband had to manually mark every active and partially active member of our ward, whether they came in for tithing settlement or not.He was able to see when/how much each member donated if he had not met with them first. He had to make judgement calls then. He a little uncomfortable because he was making a declaration for members without their input.
Neither one of us thought that seemed right, even if he is a common judge for the time being.
He was generous with his declarations and felt that most people were probably doing their best. I don’t know how other bishops handle this.
I guess I would suggest that if anyone wanted to make sure that their records reflected what they felt as far as tithing goes, then either attend tithing settlement or send a message to your bishop with your declaration.
Thanks for the head’s up.
QUESTIONS:
1) When did he have to get his reporting done by?
2) In theory, could you send a message to your bishop/branch president saying, “I don’t know that I will have time for tithing settlement this year, but we are declaring full tithe paying” without losing social status. I have zero interest in herding the kids and the husband into sitting down with leadership – it’s not worth it to me executive functioning wise. Actually, we haven’t attended tithing settlement in years and said nothing…
We had a GA (70) at our last stake conference and he was harping a bit on the bishop’s responsibilities to the youth. he said he had a brother who was called as bishop a few years ago and he stood up one of the first Sundays and told them he wasn’t a marriage counselor and he was very busy in his job and didn’t have tome to do other things besides take care of the youth. Apparently this was OK even then. So, were I to be called as bishop I might I think I might be able to get away with saying “I’m very busy with my work and the youth. I do not have time to meet with all of you for tithing settlement. If all you need to do is declare you’re a full tithe payer or not a full tithe payer shoot me a text.” I have had a bishop ask to confiscate my TR for failure to pay tithing near the beginning of my FC. I have not paid tithing or attended the temple since. For the last few years, I have gone to tithing settlement with my family. I go in first alone with the bishop. I explain that I am a non-tithing member but that I support my family in their contributions and do not want to confuse them with my non-payment. As far as the kids are concerned, I am in full fellowship. The bishop and I will have a short chat before we welcome my family to join us. The kids will have their tithing envelopes ready (they have voluntarily set aside some money to donate to the church from their allowance).
In this way the bishop and I have a fairly delicate balance that seems to meet all of our needs.
Roy wrote:
The kids will have their tithing envelopes ready (they have voluntarily set aside some money to donate to the church from their allowance).
As a follow-up, both of my children have collected something less than a full 10% of their income for tithing. I have made them aware that tithing settlement is coming up and that they can declare themselves as full, part, or non-tithe payers. Both of them expressed some shame or regret for not having saved much for tithing. I praised both of them individually for making contributions for the maintenance and upkeep of the church even at a young age. I feel that this is remarkable for two teenagers to make charitable contributions.
My 12 year old son asked me why a non-tithe payer would go to the trouble of attending tithing settlement? He imagined declaring as a non-tithe payer as saying, “I didn’t give you any money this year, and things are not looking good for donations next year neither!”
😆 😆 😆 I laughed and told him that he had a good point.Priceless, Roy. I have declared my tithing status to my Bishop informally at times. In the hallway, via email, when together socially, etc.
I also have missed settlement in the past.
Settlement was designed for a time when lots of members paid through in-kind donations and “caught up” at the end of the year. There is no valid reason why it has to be in person, now, especially through a closed-door meeting. I am completely fine with that approach, but it isn’t divine in any way. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Tithing settlement i gave up long ago. Not a healthy thing to be put on the spot like that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’m surprised tithing settlement has not come up in current discussions about taking the load off the bishop so he can spend time with the youth. I realize it’s probably not one of those things that can be delegated, but as Curt says I don’t think it’s a scriptural necessity either. Not to derail, but not having time is not why most bishops didn’t spend time with the youth. Those who wanted to spend time with the youth did for the most part, although some of them did find it challenging with other duties they didn’t think they could delegate. Those who don’t want to spend time with youth will still resist and make excuses.
My family went in to tithing settlement yesterday before the face to face. As is my practice, I met with the bishop for a moment without my family to declare as a non-tithing payer. We then discussed an elderly member widow that was being evicted and how DW and I had helped her to pack. Bishop was aware of the situation and aware of our assistance. For me this discussion helped to demonstrate that I do contribute in the ward – even if non-financially. Then my wife and children came in. They had tithing enveloped prepared. They turned in those envelopes. DD reported a partial tithe and bishop asked her how she could make changes to become a full tithe payer next time. DS reported a full tithe and bishop said that he was a good man. DW reported a full tithe and bishop did not ask any questions about how that might square with he not making any contributions (She is a SAHM).
Old Timer wrote:
I have declared my tithing status to my Bishop informally at times. In the hallway, via email, when together socially, etc.I also have missed settlement in the past.
My effort to stay LDS means that I do as much as I can church wise that is sustainable for me. Going to tithing settlement and having the momentary akward declaration as a non-tithe payer is something I can do to support bishop in his calling and demonstrate that I am raising my family in the church and shielding them from my tithing struggles.
The ward secretary called me three different times to set up an appointment time that would work for our family (we had commitments on other nights). I do not feel comfortable telling the secretary that I would just send it in to bishop in an email. I worry that might be taken as a sign that I am not taking tithing seriously or thumbing my nose as church leadership. It might have been easier to not go if there was just a sign up list like I notice the other ward that shares our building is doing.
Does anyone have any examples of non-traditional methods for reporting tithing (In the hallway, via email, when together socially, etc.) and how it was received? I would be particularly interested if anyone had any knowlede from a ward secretary or bishopric perspective.
Roy wrote:Does anyone have any examples of non-traditional methods for reporting tithing (In the hallway, via email, when together socially, etc.) and how it was received? I would be particularly interested if anyone had any knowlede from a ward secretary or bishopric perspective.
The first year of our current bishop’s tenure (5 years ago) he called to try to guilt me into coming to tithing settlement because if I didn’t come he wouldn’t know what box to check. Since Jedi mind tricks only work on the weak minded I was easily able to deflect the proposed guilt trip. I simply told him he could check the full tithe payer box. Neither he nor his secretary, have bothered me since.
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