And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had,
even all her living. (Mark 12:41-44)
Friends,
On November 2, 2025 we decided as a parish family to begin building our new parish church on March 29, 2026. Archbishop Gabriel will join us to break ground that day. This is happening! And thank God!
Many of you were very clear with me in private conversations: begin the building and support will be forthcoming. Honestly, Mother Gabriela at the convent in Rives Junction has been telling me that for years. I just wasn’t smart enough to listen. And support has already begun to come in. Some in small numbers, some in big numbers. It is pretty clear: having committed to this project as a parish family with trust in God, He is blessing the work to begin.
That might sound temptingly like: great – I don’t have to give! Someone else will do that for me. This is WRONG! This project only succeeds if we ALL pitch in as we can. Folks have been asking for clear direction. That is – what do we do now? How do we make this happen? How do we participate? What is OUR part in this great undertaking? We have heard you.
And a few folks have expressed that it will be hard for those who are just starting out, or who are struggling financially, to participate. We have heard you.
Sometimes we just get too stuck in our heads. We forget to read the scriptures regularly, and thus we forget that many of these questions have already been answered by the Lord. This is one of them. I ask your forgiveness for not having been smart enough to see this. But Karl Meyer saw it and spoke up at our meeting on November 2. And Marina Edwards did too. It is easy, clear, and already mandated by the Lord. It also covers every possible financial concern. Not just because the Lord doesn’t make mistakes about what He tells us to do (please remember: He instructs us for our salvation – not for His good), but it is also ultimately fair. More fair than any humanly constructed system.
The way to build Phase 5 and just keep right on going to finish the project in one fell swoop is TITHING. Tithing is based on one’s material wealth as the LORD has blessed you. If you make a lot, then your tithe is larger. If you make little, your tithe is smaller. But since it is set at 10% of your income it is all the same in the Lord’s eyes: we all participate equally in fulfilling the Lord’s command in this way no matter our income. Our participation in tithing is not just a material question, it is rather mostly a spiritual question, and that is why it is important for everyone to tithe – no matter their income.
The whole project is set between $5-6MM. We’ll use $5MM in our math below for ease of proof of concept and ease of doing division in one’s head.
The average income for a household in Washtenaw County is $122,000/year. We’ll use $120K for this proof since it divides nicely by 12 and by 10. :) We understand that not everyone makes this much. This is an AVERAGE, so some make much more and some make much less. But we’ll use this number so we can show how tithing can make a HUGE difference in a short amount of time.
- We have 135 adult members in our parish, but we are talking household income, and we have about 80 households.
- If your household makes $120,000 per year then your monthly income is about $10,000. And your tithe would be $1,000/month.
- If we have 80 households at that rate, then the parish would collect about $80,000 per month.
- Our 2024 monthly burn rate (all of our expenses) was about $30,000 and hasn’t changed much in 2025 (this includes ~10% being put into savings). Therefore, if we take that number and pull it out of the $80,000 we will have $50,000 left to spend on the new project monthly
- That means we will have paid for Phase 5 of the project in 10 months!
- And that means that we would pay for the whole $5MM in 100 months and likely not have to take a loan to do it!
The above assumes that no one gives any cash at all to the project outside of tithing. That is already very much NOT true. People are already giving to get this project going.
It also assumes zero growth in the parish, which would make us the first Orthodox parish in North America to undertake a building project and not grow at all. That seems rather unlikely.
It also assumes that everyone will tithe at 10% right away. That is also likely not true. A figure in the Church as great as St. John Chrysostom writes that Christians need not follow the Old Testament tithe of 10%. Rather, in the New Testament, we should give MORE than 10%. Still, that probably isn’t where we are going to land to start. BUT WE MUST START!
What you give to God’s Church is a spiritual question. And you should approach it in this way. We ask you to tithe not because we need the money. We ask you to tithe because it is spiritually good for YOU. Our building project just makes this topic come more sharply into focus. We have been encouraging you to tithe for your own good for many years. Now we just get to see that if we do that we also can accomplish a great work – build a church that will serve generations of Orthodox Christians even long after we have gone to the next life. And what better legacy could we hope for than that?
Take a close look at your finances. Sit down with your spouse if applicable and discuss how to begin. If you can’t do 10+% right away then do 7%. If you can’t do 7% then do 5%. Then push yourself to do a bit more every month. And please notice when you start down this road – not only do you not starve when you tithe, but you always have more than enough. And this is exactly as the Lord promised – when you tithe He blesses you materially.
Finally ask one of the folks below to sit down with you and help you figure it out if needed. We are a parish family. We need to rely on each other. We need to trust each other. No one below is going to tell others about your family finances. But all can help you figure these things out. NOW is the time to figure it out! If we all pitch in our mite (that is, whatever it is we can without trying to justify shirking our duty in this regard) we can continue to hope on the Lord’s blessing for our building project. If we don’t do our part, then we should expect the project to fail. It is up to us. Let’s decide to succeed for God’s glory! And let’s decide to get ourselves to the point of tithing ASAP to make this happen!
Asking Your Prayers,
Fr. Gregory
Discuss Financial/Spiritual Aspects of Tithing:
Fr. Gregory Joyce (734-649-5746 or ogrisha@stvladimiaami.org or https://calendly.com/ogrisha)
Fr. Colin Bower (734-890-8236 or priestcolin@stvladimiaami.org or https://calendly.com/cmbower10)
Mikhail Fisenkov (248-773-9616 or fisenkov@yahoo.com)
Marina Edwards (734-358-9458 or mpsomsk@yahoo.com)
Dmitri Knysh (734-358-5996 or dmitriknysh@hotmail.com)
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