The Watson Letter
My brother, I wish to say to you, Be careful how you move. You are not moving wisely. The least you have to speak about the tithe that has been appropriated to the most needy and the most discouraging field in the world, the more sensible you will be.EGWCPT 13.7
It has been presented to me for years that my tithe was to be appropriated by myself to aid the white and colored ministers who were neglected and did not receive sufficient, properly to support their families. When my attention was called to aged ministers, white or black, it was my special duty to investigate into their necessities and supply their needs. This was to be my special work, and I have done this in a number of cases. No man should give notoriety to the fact that in special cases the tithe is used in that way.EGWCPT 13.8
In regard to the colored work in the South, that field has been and is still being robbed of the means that should come to the workers in that field. If there have been cases where our sisters have appropriated their tithe to the support of the ministers working for the colored people in the South, let every man, if he is wise, hold his peace.EGWCPT 13.9
I have myself appropriated my tithe to the most needy cases brought to my notice. I have been instructed to do this; and as the money is not withheld from the Lord’s treasury, it is not a matter that should be commented upon, for it will necessitate my making known these matters, which I do not desire to do, because it is not best.EGWCPT 13.10
Some cases have been kept before me for years, and I have supplied their needs from the tithe, as God instructed me to do. And if any person shall say to me, Sister White, will you appropriate my tithe where you know it is most needed, I shall say, Yes, I will; and I have done so. I commend those sisters who have placed their tithe where it is most needed to help do a work that is being left undone, and if this matter is given publicity, it will create a knowledge which would better be left as it is. I do not care to give publicity to this work which the Lord has appointed me to do, and others to do.EGWCPT 13.11
I send this matter to you so that you shall not make a mistake. Circumstances alter cases. I would not advise that anyone should make a practice of gathering up tithe money. But for years there have now and then been persons who have lost confidence in the appropriation of the tithe who have placed their tithe in my hands, and said that if I did not take it they would themselves appropriate it to the families of the most needy ministers they could find. I have taken the money, given a receipt for it, and told them how it was appropriated.EGWCPT 13.12
I write this to you so that you shall keep cool and not become stirred up and give publicity to this matter, lest many more shall follow their example. EGWCPT 13.13
Let us here draw some conclusions from this unusual incident in our denominational history:EGWCPT 14.1
1. Ellen White was directly instructed by God to aid certain poverty-stricken ministers, white and black.
2. Ellen White’s first task was to notify the Conference of the existing needs. Only if they did not respond did she then step into the breach with emergency assistance.
3. The money thus disbursed was used for living expenses of destitute workers—not for operating expenses of institutions, the publishing of literature, etc.
4. The pre-1911 financial situation does not exist today in the United States or in many other parts of the world. Pension plans are available now that did not exist when she wrote this letter.
5. In every paragraph of her letter there is at least one sentence in which she explicitly urged Elder Watson to keep quiet about the situation. This was her special work, not the special work of others. If everyone followed her example, the financial structure of the church would be substantially damaged.
6. Independent ministries who circulate this letter for their own personal purposes, in order to justify solicitation and/or acceptance of tithe funds from their fellow SDA church members, are doing exactly what Ellen White told Elder Watson not to do.
7. The money was “not withheld from the Lord’s treasury” in that it was being applied to denominationally-recognized ministers.