Paying tithing through the mail?

[specka]

Can I send my bishop my tithing in the mail without one of those gray envelopes? I have a tithing slip but I feel weird about sending it in the envelope. In case you were wondering I haven't been to church in a few weeks due to being either out of town or working and haven't had a chance to give my tithing to my bishop, so that's why I want to send it in the mail. I will be at church next week but I would rather send it off as soon as possible because we are now "behind" on our tithing. (I know you can pay it whenever you want, but for my own sake I feel better about paying it once a month).

[Just_A_Guy]

Can I send my bishop my tithing in the mail without one of those gray envelopes? I have a tithing slip but I feel weird about sending it in the envelope. In case you were wondering I haven't been to church in a few weeks due to being either out of town or working and haven't had a chance to give my tithing to my bishop, so that's why I want to send it in the mail. I will be at church next week but I would rather send it off as soon as possible because we are now "behind" on our tithing. (I know you can pay it whenever you want, but for my own sake I feel better about paying it once a month).

I don't think they'll reject it; but I'd be afraid of it getting lost in the mail or getting mislaid at the bishop's home. You've waited this long; I'd just let it go another week.

[Wingnut]

I have a tithing slip but I feel weird about sending it in the envelope.

I don't understand this.

[NeuroTypical]

You need a tithing slip. You don't need a gray envelope.

(You also need the correct address and a stamp and a return address.)

[mnn727]

Write the check today but hand it to the Bishop next Sunday.

[RMGuy]

I pay online....so much easier.

-RM

[Backroads]

I pay online....so much easier.

-RM

How do you do this?

[Backroads]

In response to the question...

I've mailed it in before a number of times, no problems.

[RMGuy]

In response to the question...

I've mailed it in before a number of times, no problems.

It was pretty easy actually. You send an email to [email protected]

make you subject:

RE: i want to pay tithing through direct debit of my account.

and they will send you the instructions to pay tithing through bill pay. I believe you have to be in the US to do this. It is great! I opened a separate account just for this, have my employer deposit an amount equal to 10% each pay period and then transfer it out. The only down side is that your local leaders don't have a record of you paying, so you just have to tell them you pay direct to salt lake, and you can't pay fast offerings that way, so for that we still write out a check etc.

-RM

[dahlia]

I often pay through the mail. Our boys are not as good as they should be about picking up tithing. Plus, since I only get paid once a month, if I forget to bring it to church, I need to 'get rid of it' soon, before it starts to have a mind of its own.

[specka]

I have a tithing slip but I feel weird about sending it in the envelope.

I don't understand this.

What don't you understand about this? I don't like the idea of sending the gray tithing envelope through the postal service with my tithing in it partially because I live in, well, Utah. Simple as that. But anyway, that's not really the point.

I pay online....so much easier. -RM

So basically I had no idea that you could pay this way! I wonder how you stumbled upon this great knowledge. Good to know.

I think I will end up paying next week. But I've wondered this quite a bit. Me and my husband end up working a lot of Sundays lately..:/

Edited November 20, 2012 by specka
I'm tired and suck at typing right now...bleh

[RMGuy]

I could tell you Specka, but then......

Just kidding. It came up a number of years ago because we had a member in our ward that did not want the bishopric members to know how much they paid in tithing. At tithing settlement, they said that they paid directly to Salt Lake even though our numbers showed a 0. The Bishop asked the Stake President who explained that yes it is possible to do this and that in that case the local ward/stake would have no record of the amount paid. The bishop is permitted to follow up with Salt Lake and they will just tell him yes or no about donations received is my understanding.

We decided to start paying that way, not because I care if the bishop knows what we earn, but simply because it was easier to manage. I think it is still pretty rare, but I would imagine it will become more popular. Less checks/cash changing hands etc.

We had an incident about the same time (while I was in a bishopric) of $500 in cash going missing that was never found. The member insisted that they gave the envelope to a member of the bishopric, that individual never remembered receiving it etc. There was a big investigation...etc. Anyway, having observed that (So glad it wasn't me they said they handed the envelope too), I decided I did NOT want to be or put anyone in that position ever...one more reason to just pay direct IMHO.

-RM

[pam]

I

We had an incident about the same time (while I was in a bishopric) of $500 in cash going missing that was never found. The member insisted that they gave the envelope to a member of the bishopric, that individual never remembered receiving it etc. There was a big investigation...etc. Anyway, having observed that (So glad it wasn't me they said they handed the envelope too), I decided I did NOT want to be or put anyone in that position ever...one more reason to just pay direct IMHO.

-RM

Just my opinion, but I think it's rather dumb to pay it in cash. At least with writing a check you have a record and know if it was ever cashed or not.

[RMGuy]

Just my opinion, but I think it's rather dumb to pay it in cash. At least with writing a check you have a record and know if it was ever cashed or not.

Pam I agree. When it came up...I was sick to my stomach for weeks and I wasn't the individual that turned it in, or the individual it was handed to.

-RM

[pam]

Pam I agree. When it came up...I was sick to my stomach for weeks and I wasn't the individual that turned it in, or the individual it was handed to.

-RM

I can imagine. And I'm sure it was nothing more than being handed an envelope when things were hectic...cleaning out a jacket pocket and thinking it all throw away. But you just never know. You would hate to think that anyone in that position would be dishonest.

[RMGuy]

Knowing the parties involved I'm pretty sure it was honest error. Both are great people.

-RM

[Dixielee]

I think the question has been sufficiently answered, but I have mailed my tithing in on a number of occasions. I also occasionally have to work Sundays, and want to get the money out of my hands as soon as possible! Since I live in a stake that covers many hundreds of square miles, and my Bishop lives about 90 minutes away, sometimes I must rely on the US Mail. I would never send cash but have never had a problem with the proper person getting the tithing check.

I read once that one church (not LDS) has an ATM machine in the building that only accepted "deposits". Maybe that is not such a bad idea!

[Just_A_Guy]

The Bishop asked the Stake President who explained that yes it is possible to do this and that in that case the local ward/stake would have no record of the amount paid. The bishop is permitted to follow up with Salt Lake and they will just tell him yes or no about donations received is my understanding.

Mormon Life Hacker did a post on this a couple of years ago; though there have been some minor policy changes and RMGuy's method is now the preferred way to go.

[talisyn]

It was pretty easy actually. You send an email to [email protected]

make you subject:

RE: i want to pay tithing through direct debit of my account.

and they will send you the instructions to pay tithing through bill pay. I believe you have to be in the US to do this. It is great! I opened a separate account just for this, have my employer deposit an amount equal to 10% each pay period and then transfer it out. The only down side is that your local leaders don't have a record of you paying, so you just have to tell them you pay direct to salt lake, and you can't pay fast offerings that way, so for that we still write out a check etc.

-RM

Wow!

[RMGuy]

Wow!

Why Wow?

-RM

[JayJ]

I know a few home-bound members in our unit who mail their tithing in a regular envelope on a fairly regular basis -usually because they have run out of the regular envelopes. On the other hand, I can see some of the reservations mentioned above.

[miztrniceguy]

I have been paying electronically for about 2 years with bill pay, too. I get direct deposit from work, too and tithing is the first item in my excel spreadsheet. For about 6 years I had a 2nd acct that I had the 10 % go into, but suddenly my bank started charging me a fee so I closed it. It was nice being completely separated, but did not want to pay a fee since the deposit amount wasn't enough to avoid the fee. Still mad they changed.

[Sharky]

It was pretty easy actually. You send an email to [email protected]

make you subject:

RE: i want to pay tithing through direct debit of my account.

and they will send you the instructions to pay tithing through bill pay. I believe you have to be in the US to do this. It is great! I opened a separate account just for this, have my employer deposit an amount equal to 10% each pay period and then transfer it out. The only down side is that your local leaders don't have a record of you paying, so you just have to tell them you pay direct to salt lake, and you can't pay fast offerings that way, so for that we still write out a check etc.

-RM

The latest "Application Form" that you must complete before Salt Lake will accept electronic payments allows for & gives instructions for the following donations via electronic format:

-Tithing

-Fast Offering (General Fast Offerings Fund Only, Not Ward Fund)

-Missionary (General Fund Only, Not Ward Fund)

-Book of Mormon

-PEF (Perpetual Educational Fund)

-Other (Humanitarian)

Any other donated funds or donations specific for your ward or branch must be made the "old fashioned" way.

[pam]

I actually didn't know there was a "Ward Fund" for Fast Offerings. I always thought it all went into the General Fast Offerings and was dispersed to the wards.

[RMGuy]

The money donated in the ward stays in the ward and is the fund from which the Bishop draws to help those that have a need. If a ward is (In the red) then funds are made available from the stake or general moneys. If the pool of money at the ward level becomes too large, it is then subsumed to the general level.

-RM