Giving - should it hurt? : a study of the giving of the Samoan people to the Church

Abstract

(…) I aspire to provide a tangible explanation to answer the issue of why financial giving to the church by the Samoan people is right and whether it should hurt. I realise that such an assured answer may cause offence; that, however is not my intention. Rather, it is to see a generation of old and young released into a truth of giving to the church in its original intention. I aim to illustrate how things used to be and how they have developed into the practise we see in the church today, and how that has affected the view of young Samoans and their financial contributions to the church or lack thereof.

My personal reason for this topic is so that I myself may gain an understanding of this practise which I have seen cripple my people and cause such a rebellion amongst my peers towards the church. The church is a major part of my culture and my upbringing and, although the purpose of giving to the church was not explained it was assumed that I would realise by watching and therefore not need to be directly told. This was often the pattern of learning that I was exposed to, especially in matters concerning the church. So it is my hope to bring a revelation of truth to this practice of giving.

The old customs prior to the arrival of the church to Samoa have been documented in literature that has been provided by early missionary manuscripts, historical documents and also from the treasured source of oral tradition. The origin of giving to the church is found in the Old Testament and so the study into the Jewish tradition of tithes is essential to this research to establish whether the practise bought to the Samoans by the Victorian Protestant missionaries was an interpretation of the biblical practise or not.

This historical foundation will be used to establish why and where our people have come from in terms of our current practise of giving to the church and hopefully shed light for our generation to make better-informed decisions to not only give because it is all we have seen and known but to understand the original intention and choose in knowledge and not arrogance or, worse still, ignorance.

Interviews were also undertaken from a small sampling due to the restrictions of the size of this research: three from the older community whom I have affectionately named au matatua, the elders, who range from 60-68 years old; and 4 younger participants whom I have named le lumana',i the future, who range from 20-30 years. The former group are essential in providing an oral interpretation of how things used to be. The le lumana'i will hopefully provide some insight into the practise of our young people, what they believe are the reasons for giving. I also hope to provide a space for the au lumana'i to express how they feel about this practise and to honestly agree or disagree.

A summation of my findings will explore the literary results and information collated from the interviews, and will be followed by the conclusion. (…) [Extract from Introduction]