What to do with the excess money? Suppose someone's spouse makes $80,000. That means the family has $80,000 over the UMC minimum salary. Do you give it all away? Do you put it in a trust fund and give away the interest? What do you do with that much money left over?
And the answer is: I don't know. But wouldn't it be a great conversation to have?!
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For those who might be interested, Ron Sider offers a pretty workable plan for something called a "graduated tithe" in Rich Christians. Basically (I think this is right, but I can't find the book right now) you determine how much you need for necessities and a few comforts (say $30,000); you tithe 10% of that, and then anything over that amount is available for tithing at an increased rate. So for the next $5,000 you tithe 20%, and the tithe increases by 5% for each $5,000 increment. Thus, if you make $80,000, you tithe a total of $24,250 (which is a bit more than 30% of your income). This means that you would be giving a lot more, but you'd also get to save $28,750 a year for other purposes. This doesn't mean that the savings has to be spent selfishly. You could use it later to help in an emergency, or use it for college or make a large donation periodically.
Maybe this isn't quite radical enough, but for those clergy whose spouses work and aren't yet ready to give it all away, a graduated tithe might be a step in the direction of greater generosity.
Peace, Chris Klopp
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