I've been approached by one of our SLT this morning to help him prepare something on giving and tithing for a session on personal finance with the Sixth Form.

He's from an evangelical background, and the 10% tithe is very much part of his church structure. I think I need to sit down and have a conversation with him about what he wants, because we don't have the same concept of it being a hard and fast rule.

Any suggestions of helpful bits of Catholic teaching I can point him towards?

Many thanks in advance!

Whenever anyone talks about tithing I always remember Tony Campolo's humorous response...

To make the point, while singing the hymn 'All to Jesus I Surrender', he substitutes instead - 'A tenth to Jesus I surrender, a tenth to him I freely give'!

All To Jesus I Surrender - with Lyrics

It's ALL of course, not just a tenth. There is some debate on wheather it is a biblical dictate that Christians are actually held to, which is the context I've heard it discussed in most. I've also discovered a website on the whole thing! http://www.tithingdebate.com/ So it's contentious from an Evangelical viewpoint too.

Is it unhealthy to give a tenth (of your money) to 'God'? Of course not, and I confess that I've tried to do it in the past. The problem I think some people have with it is when it's presented as the Gospel way for a Christian to live. If I were you, I'd go with a presentation on some of the Saints of the Church and how they approached the whole idea of self offering. I think it puts tithing (which might be part of that offering, for some) into perspective. It's one of the reasons I became a Benedictine Oblate.

UPDATE: I suppose the other thing about tithing, which has just struck me, is that it's about commitment. If you promise something you are bound to that promise and it is a sin to then break it (unless of course it is something wrong in the first place!). Tithing may not be a direct commandment for the Christian, but it is connected to truthfulness, which is at the heart of our faith.