Chapter 3—Adventists, Organization, and Tithing

Early Sabbathkeepers were reluctant at first to move in the direction of organization. But as the Sabbath message spread, it became clear that no real advance could be made if “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Ellen White summarized the reason our pioneers organized the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 1860s:HUT 41.5

“As our numbers increased, it was evident that without some form of organization there would be great confusion, and the work would not be carried forward successfully. To provide for the support of the ministry, for carrying the work in new fields, for protecting both the churches and the ministry from unworthy members, for holding church property, for the publication of the truth through the press, and for many other objects, organization was indispensable.”—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 26.

Pressed to keep ministers in the field full-time, our pioneers sought to develop an adequate financial system for the organizing church. As early as 1858 a Bible class in Battle Creek under the direction of J. N. Andrews began to search for Bible principles of gospel support. The class eventually recommended a plan known as Systematic Benevolence, the predecessor of the present system of tithes and offerings.HUT 41.6

Not until 1876-1879, however, did Adventists institute a full-fledged tithing system (adapted from the Levitical model) as the basis for denominational finance. Leaders encouraged members to adopt the tithing plan as God’s ordained arrangement for the support of the ministry and the work of the church. Tithes gathered in the churches were remitted to the conferences for the support of the ministers in their respective territories. The conference was designated as the storehouse for the tithes. The conference passed on a tithe of these tithes to the General Conference. Over the years this storehouse principle has been refined so that tithe now flows from local churches to the conference, with certain percentages moving on to the union conference and finally to the General Conference, with its oversight of the world field.HUT 41.7

The steady growth and extension of the Seventh-day Adventist Church—from 3,500 members in the United States in 1863 to more than 5 million worldwide today, and from a small U.S. area to a presence in more than 180 countries—has demonstrated under God’s blessing the soundness of the storehouse principle of the Levitical system. The church succeeds when it pulls together toward a common goal.HUT 42.1