Have you ever wondered what the ‘deed of covenant’ is, or what happens to your tithe after you hand it in? Three young people from the Leeds New Generation Seventh-day Adventist Church went to the North England Conference to find out exactly that.
On On Tuesday 18 February 2020 a group of young people from the Leeds New Generation Seventh-day Adventist church came to visit North England Conference Treasurer, Charles Bramble. Their meeting is part of requirement 3 in the Stewardship honour which stipulates that the Voyager is to learn what is done with the tithe in their local church, Conference, Union, and the General Conference. The young people were accompanied by their Club Counsellor Mrs Roxan Gardner.
When asked about the visit Mrs Gardener said, "In the past this requirement was done via the church treasurer. I decided to take the class to the Conference office giving them a broader understanding of how the process works. It was also an opportunity for these young people to see their Conference office and the other departments working together to spread the Gospel in the North of England. According to the Conference treasurer this has never been done before or not since he took office anyway."
In his presentation to the young people, the NEC treasurer gave them information on a variety of Adventist financial systems such as tithe, gift aid, offering, amongst a plethora of other things.
"It was a great opportunity for me to be able to inform the young men of how much the Conference relies on the faithfulness of the local church members. Our Church is a bottom-up organisation, and nothing demonstrates this more than how the Church is financed. It all begins with the faithful returning of the Lord's tithe from each local church member and God then holds the Conference responsible for the faithful use of the tithe in order to advance the work of proclaiming the gospel of Christ. God has provided this model and nothing serves the Church better, in terms of how it is financed. I think it was a mutually beneficial meeting," said Charles Bramble.
The young people learnt a great deal about the tithing process and the importance of gift aid and they intend to make a presentation of what they learnt to their local church.