Mon, 15 Jan 2018 10:46:43 +0000
THE THORNY ISSUE SURROUNDING CHURCH FUNDS EXPLAINED
By EDWARD MWANGO
THE most agonising experience for some clergymen is when the majority of their followers contribute coins as tithe or offering to the church.
One clergyman in Lusaka is said to have threatened to boycott mass arguing that he was fed up of his congregation most of whom were in the habit of bringing coins as offering and tithe and money used for “planting seed.”
“One day I will make big holes under the offering basket so that when you put a coin it will fall instantly to the ground so that everyone hears the loud noise of the coin as it falls to the ground,” the clergyman is said to have warned worshippers at one of the makeshift churches in Lusaka’s Chipata Compound.
Often times, people who contribute little amounts are deemed as “cursed” because they have failed to pay God ten percent of their pay checks while those who contribute “handsomely” are poured with praises of prosperity mostly focusing on financial breakthrough.
And recently, several residents in Lusaka raised eyebrows after it was reported that some pastors stormed the Zambia Daily Mail in protest against the directive by Government to stop churches from conducting services in cholera-affected areas, questioning how they would survive without offerings and tithe.
Often times, controversy has surrounded the whereabouts of Tithe and Offering both locally and on the international scene, a situation which has seen some churches forming splinter churches following allegations of financial mismanagement.
A case study is that of a pastor and his wife of Houston in the United States, who were arrested in 2016 after it was discovered that they stole over $430, 000 in church money and used it to gamble.
According to allchristiannews.com, to the loyal members of Bethel Institutional Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, the money that they had been contributing in tithes and offerings was finding its way into their pastor’s and his wife’s pockets then to a slot machine in Louisiana.
The two were arrested and booked at the Harris County Jail over charges of stealing church money and using it to make gambling trips to a Louisiana casino.
A Harris County Grand Jury indicted Charles Gilford, 58, and his wife, Adriane Gilford, 53, and slapped them with aggregate theft and “misapplication of fiduciary property.”
Prosecutors claimed the couple spent not less than $430, 000 in church money, gambling at the Coushatta Casino located close to Lake Charles for a period between 2004 and 2007.
Meanwhile, David Hayward of the US in his column “10 reasons why abuse is easy in the church,” believes that the Church silences abuse in order to protect their ministries.
He observes that church leaders enjoy an incredible lack of accountability while isolating themselves and presume immunity from critics and the world.
But it had also been observed that most congregants do not understand what is tithe.
Tithe is a tenth of your income. It’s in the Bible, Leviticus 27:30, TLB.
“A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, is the Lord’s, and is holy.”
Tithing is a way of teaching us that God must be our first priority. It’s in the Bible, Deuteronomy 14:22-23, TLB.
“You must tithe all of your crops every year. Bring this tithe to eat before the Lord your God at the place he shall choose as his sanctuary; this applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn of your flocks and herds. The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.”
In the Old Testament, the tithe was used to support the priests. It’s in the Bible, Numbers 18:20-21, NKJV. “Then the LORD said to Aaron: “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel. “Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.
In Zambia, numerous cases of people demanding Tithe refunds have been reported with the recent one involving a case in which a woman of Chingola’s Chiwempala Township had demanded a refund of K5, 000 in tithes and offerings from the Apostolic Church of Zambia-Word Centre (ACZ).
However the court dismissed the case on grounds that the complainant had no proof of payment to the church.
But the good news is that workers on the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) scheme and faithfully pay tithe annually to their churches are eligible for refund by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA).
According to the ZRA, it can refund faithful Christians who are good church stewards although most people did not know about the tithe refund.
Just as PAYE is calculated on one’s gross income, the tithe should have been paid from one’s gross income, and should be from January to December of a particular year.
“Tax payments are considered as donations, and the Income Tax Act allows contributions to an approved public benefit organisation as an allowable expense.
If this credit is taken into account in computations of tax, a refund may arise. Note that all this can only be done after the end of year charge.
The amount allowable in ascertaining the tax to be paid is restricted to 15 percent of one’s taxable income,’ reads part of the ZRA newsletter on most frequently asked questions.
All those wishing to get a tax refund from the tithe that they give to their churches should first ensure that they get receipts from their churches.
Under provisions of the Income Tax Act (Section 41), a tax-payer is allowed to deduct from their income any donations that they might have made to public-benefit organisations which are approved by the minister.
Perhaps the controversy surrounding tithe and offering in some churches could be eased if ZRA conducts vigorous sensitisation campaigns in conjunction with churches.
