During the North American Division (NAD) Annual Council, actions were voted on that will change the way tithe is shared between church levels in an effort to alleviate financial challenges.
NAD president, G. Alexander Bryant, discussed tithe sharing among conferences, unions, the division, and the General Conference; the roles and responsibilities of each church level; and whether the current structure is the most efficient way to advance mission.
Bryant mentioned that these topics have been talking points for nearly 20 years, yet have gained recent momentum due to financial pressures at the conference level, driven by overall cost-of-living spikes, particularly in health care and insurance premiums. When he and his administrative team visited union and conference officials earlier this year, the need for immediate help was evident.
Before NAD's Annual Council, an administrators’ meeting was held September 30 to October 1 in Chicago, Illinois, where four action items emerged. First, the NAD and unions would provide additional financial assistance to conferences, with a proposed start date of January 1, 2027. Second, a committee representing all levels of the church will study organizational efficiency to reduce duplication and streamline operations. Third, a separate committee, also representing all church levels, will study organizational restructuring. Finally, leaders will begin the established process for changing tithe reversion policies, with changes totaling 3.85 per cent.
The two financial action items were developed into three recommendations and presented to the North American Division Officers and Union Presidents meeting on the morning of October 28. That group voted to bring them to the NAD Annual Council, which began the next afternoon.
Three recommendations were presented on the floor, and after discussion, each passed.
Conference tithe allocation for evangelism
Local conferences shall allocate 1.5 per cent of tithe from the prior year for evangelism in the upcoming budget year.
This would not affect the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada, as it operates with separate policies. Representatives voted in strong support.
Education reversion
NAD grants a variance for education reversion, which is 2.35 per cent, to remain at the union for the year 2027. Education reversion of 2.35 per cent is excluded from the 10 per cent of the union’s remittance (tithe) to the division and retirement contributions.
Again, the vast majority of attending representatives voted “Yes.”
Additional assistance from the Division and Union for the year 2027
a. Local conference will retain an additional 1 per cent of gross tithe in 2027 as follows:
b. 0.5 per cent from the division
c. 0.5 per cent from the union [not applicable to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada]
d. Local conference[s] will receive an additional 0.5 per cent of the 2025 gross tithe from the division reserves as a lump sum in January 2027 [later confirmed by Judy R. Glass, NAD treasurer, to amount to approximately $US6.6 million]
e. A one-year policy variance will be granted for 2027 for NAD (Working policy V 09 05 2b), which states that the local conference/mission will remit 9 per cent of the tithes received to the union, as the remittance would be 8.5 per cent. Due to the anticipated study on the roles and functions of each level, this variance is only for 2027.
Short-term solution
In total, 4.35 per cent of tithe will no longer be remitted to the NAD: the 1.5 per cent evangelism reversion, the 2.35 per cent education reversion, and the division’s 0.5 per cent. Together with the union’s 0.5 per cent, this means conferences will keep an additional 2.5 per cent on top of the 78 per cent they already retain. The 2.35 per cent education reversion will stay with the unions, which will decide whether to return those funds directly to conferences or use them on the conferences’ behalf. Conferences will also receive a one-time lump sum from NAD cash reserves, equal to 0.5 per cent of 2025 gross tithe, in January 2027.
These measures were agreed upon as the best short-term solution for 2027. The 1 per cent cut from the NAD and unions and the 1.5 per cent evangelism reversion will remain at the local conference level, and the 2.35 per cent education reversion will remain at the union level. Church leaders will also work together on long-term solutions to be considered at the next NAD Annual Council.
One conference president listed the stark increases in expenses within his territory across the past five years and expressed gratitude for these revisions. Another requested a full reflection of the tithe splits throughout the church’s levels, and Glass responded with the following graphics:
Another church leader, while appreciative of these measures, expressed concern for the well-being of the local churches, asserting his pastoral compassion over his administrative outlook. Bryant validated his concern and indicated this would be in the hands of the conferences.
As this segment of Sunday’s business session drew to a close, Bryant emphasized the team dynamic. “We’re in this together. . . . We may differ on what’s the best outcome, but . . . we all want the same thing [the mission of the church moved forward],” he expressed. “God will lead us. God will direct us.”
Revisiting the dichotomy between short-term and long-term solutions, an analogy helped provide perspective. A church leader with a background in paramedics said, “You’ve gotta put a patch on it before the surgeon can get to it.”
Bryant corroborated the metaphor. Quoting a medical professional with whom he recently interacted, he said, “You have to do two things: . . . triage the patient and find out what the needs are. . . . To save you, we [may have to] break your ribcage.”
The original article was published on the North American Division news site.
