The Bible commands tithing. Some churches report the practice thrives, but there are skeptics. At Calvary Baptist Church, 16th and Fairmount, the pastor says tithing has grown in his 2 years.
Statistics show black churches are more likely to embrace the custom.
For though membership has its privileges, membership has its responsibilities. The band played, the choir rejoiced, and the deacons and deaconesses, men and women in charcoal suits and black dresses, arranged baskets for the envelopes in which the congregation sealed their tithes and offerings. A check of the situation, though, shows that beyond black churches statistics are hard to come by, and that tithing customs and definitions can vary greatly. Another survey, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's Program for the Study of Organized Religion and Social Work, found that African American churches derive almost half their income from offerings and a third from tithes and dues. One does not separate the secular from the religious.