Revenue Up, Increasingly Outside of North America
Adventist News Network reports on the Spring Meeting of Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in Battle Creek, Mich.
Tithe returned in the North American Division for 2012 was up about 1 percent from 2011 and totaled US$933 million. Tithe from divisions outside North America increased 4.4 percent for a total of close to $1.4 billion.
Mission offerings from outside North America similarly rose, reaching about $60 million, a 6 percent increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, mission offerings returned in North America dipped 2.6 percent, totaling nearly $23 million.
“We have seen a tremendous increase in mission giving by divisions outside of North America,” Adventist world church Treasurer Robert E. Lemon told ANN. “But I want to point out that in North America, local churches often give to many projects directly, or their members go on mission trips. These acts of mission giving go uncounted.”