Tithing as a fundamental principle should be understood by the leadership of a core group of a new congregation (church plant) and affiliated church at its formation or in the case of an affiliated church, at the negotiation stage for affiliation. If the infant/child analogy to tithing is applied, parents assume the full responsibility of the child’s support. Where tithing is taught as a household principle, children are encouraged to tithe on their allowance, and as they get older, on their part-time and summer jobs. Only when children assume full responsibility for their living expenses do they begin to tithe on their full income. In the case of local churches, this applies to the operations budget (see ¶440.2.2).
