Highlights of the Beginning of the Tithing System

Chapter 8—The Developing Concept of the Proper Use of the Tithe

Not only was there a development in the understanding of what constituted a proper tithe, but there was also a development in an understanding of the use to which it should be put. The pattern of history in this matter is akin to that of other developments among us. The Lord did not at the outset through vision to Ellen White decree every detail. Rather, He led our forefathers to the Scriptures as a basis of a church financial system, first to the New Testament and then to the Old. HBTS 5.1

When the plan of gospel finance was adopted in the late 1850s, the lines of church work were limited. There were those engaged in ministerial labors and there was the publishing work. The publishing work was supported by the sale of literature and by freewill gifts. HBTS 6.1

As the sanitarium work was begun in 1866, a stock company was formed and at the outset it seemed that this enterprise would be a money-making concern, yielding no less than ten percent on the investment. The medical work, although not so lucrative as it first seemed it would be, was not the recipient of systematic benevolence. HBTS 6.2

Nor did the school look to this source for finance as our educational work was started in the early 1870s. The three very early attempts at church school work were before the days of systematic benevolence and they looked to tuition for their support. This was true also with the school that Bell started in Battle Creek in the late 1860s. The school started in Battle Creek in 1872, with General Conference support, was on a tuition basis. The only school in operation before the 1878 actions reorganizing systematic benevolence, was Battle Creek College. It was not until 1882 that Healdsburg College and South Lancaster Academy were started, and there is no hint that they drew in any way on systematic benevolence or tithe funds. In fact, the demands of the ministerial lines of work pressed hard on the systematic benevolence funds, as the record shows. HBTS 6.3