Online giving, as well as other options, can be setup on the DONATE page.
Giving: Holy Ascension parishioners consider sacrificial giving (tithing) to be an integral and necessary part of their spiritual growth, as it has always been taught in the scriptures and by the Church. It is an honor to be able to express our gratitude toward God and His Church in this way, and through it we strive to build up His kingdom and ourselves. The invisible blessings given to us, once we have made this part of our spiritual discipline, are invaluable and indispensable. Giving is part of the basic tripod of the spiritual life: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
Stewardship for church members should be planned out in advance based on a sacrificial amount of one’s income, aiming toward ten percent. It should be cheerful and regular, taken from one’s “first fruits”, not from what is “left over”. It should be regular and dependable, independent of attendance. To avoid pride, it should be private – “do not let your left and see what your right hand is doing”.
How to give: Quietly placing a check into the donation box is one good option, but the best option is to set up direct regular giving from one’s bank account, directly to the parish, and also to annually review your giving. Regular reliable electronic giving, besides helping you stay on top of your giving, helps the church immensely to plan and budget for its needs and to provide a stable diet of services, ministries, and spiritual opportunities for all.
Getting started: If you are new to tithing, you may need to ramp up slowly. Try this:
- Determine your household income. (For example $60,000/yr.) This will vary widely among our parishioners.
- Determine what you currently give to the church (Example: $2,000/yr.)
- Determine the current percentage/proportion you give back. (Current donation ÷ Household income = $2,000/$60,000= 3.33%)
- Determine a target percentage. Decide what meaningful percentage of the resources God has given to you that you will give back to God through the Church. (Example 10%)
- Develop an annual plan for moving to that target. Some will try to get to the target in one year. Others may try to narrow the gap (the difference between 10% and 3.3%) over, say, three or four years moving from 5% to 7% to 9% to 10%.
Further reading: Begin by reading “6 Reasons Why Tithing is Good for an Orthodox Parish“. For further study, read the book Money and Salvation by Andrew Geleris, or listen to it on Audible.