My parish is not a poor parish; quite the contrary. Our members are almost exclusively upper middle-class professionals and managers in local and federal government, as well as private industry. What they seem to lack is an awareness of their responsibility to fnancially support the parish. I know that my pastor is very uncomfortable in dealing with the subject of finances within the parish, and at the national church level during his tenure on the Metropolitan Council. At the parish level, we seem to muddle through without ever hearing about the financial responsibilities of the individual members of the faithful, even in very general terms, from our pastor or our Parish Council President; the “T-word” (tithing) is never mentioned in “polite company” within the parish … except among those of us who have spent time around American Evangelical Protestants.

Part of the problem may have to do with the education of the clergy in our seminaries. Is there any course, or courses, in which the seminarians cover the Orthodox teachings concerning the proper stewardship and its theological basis? Is there any course that covers the education — initial or remedial — of the faithful in proper stewardship?

Another part of the problem is the flip side: is there any commonly accepted catechical subject that includes the Orthodox standards for proper stewardship? Is there an appreciation among the hierarchy and the rest of the clergy of the necessity of remedial catechetical teaching to insure that the laity does in fact have the education in what constitutes proper stewardship? From what I’ve seen during my 24 years as an Orthodox Christian, the answer to both questions is “No”.

Here God tells *us* to “bring in the tithe” to His house. Why? So that there may be food. What kind of food? I suggest it is spiritual food because without the Church we have no spiritual or Divine Food on which we can grow. And what does God do for us? He protects and provides. Not just in the house but in the fields (the mission).

In the five years I’ve been in the Orthodox church, I’ve not ever heard this taught. Not once. Why not? Do not our own leaders believe this?

I suggest that they do but they lack the courage to say it. I remember my husband saying once, “It is hard being the pastor. The parish controls your paycheck. When you anger them, they can withhold it and your family suffers.” That was when he was a pastor of a protestant church many, many years ago. Now that he “guest preaches” once in awhile, he said it is easier to say the hard things since you are not dependent for your livelihood.