Next, multiply the total annual income by ten percent. That will give you the figure which would represent the total giving to your church is everybody gave a tithe, or ten percent. There may be many other kinds of problems that are coming together to result in lowered contributions, but you know for sure that the money is there. So it's a question of motivation, not a question of money. Now, one last step.
Stewardship is a matter of growth and maturity.
Not all people reach the philanthropic understanding at the same time in their spiritual pilgrimage. And none of us reach it alone. It is a result of patient and repetitive community reinforcement. That means, in the local United Methodist Church, that the pastor has to preach it, the teachers have to teach it, the leaders have to lead out and make their gifts first, and the congregation has to celebrate it. Whenever philanthropy occurs it does so because the persons giving has come to an awareness of being thankful for what they have, and they have a desire to give back to the community, group or cause that led to their having so much.