92-Year-Old Woman Kicked Out Of Church For Not Tithing

A 92-year-old Georgia woman and her nephew say she was recently kicked out of her church, where she has been a member for than 50 years, because she was not tithing.

“Josephine King is no longer considered a member of the First African Baptist Church of Bainbridge, Georgia,” her nephew, Gerald Simmons, read aloud from the letter that he told WALB News his aunt received recently.

                                
The letter, signed by Senior Pastor Derrick Mike, said King “has shown non-support” by failing to keep up with “constant and consistent financial and physical participation.”

Simmons said his aunt has been sick and unable to leave her house for several months. “She was stunned,” her nephew said of her reaction to the letter. “She was disappointed. She was shocked.”

He added that his aunt had shown plenty of support for the church in the past, and the church might now be too aggressive in collecting money. Tithing is the practice of giving a set percentage of income, traditionally 10 percent, to a church or organization.

“You shouldn’t chase the individuals down,” Simmons said. “You shouldn’t do that. If that’s the case you’re money hungry.”
“You got to have money to make these churches run,” he conceded. “But it’s not about money. It’s about God. You have to put God first.”