Next Lifetime or This One? Eryka Badu Ignites a Tithing Debate

Erykah Badu: If Tithers Had Invested the 10%, They’d Now be Millionaires

The Black church has long been the place where faith and survival meet; where generations gave what they had to build what they were denied. 

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So when Erykah Badu suggested there might be more Black millionaires if Black churchgoers stopped tithing — giving 10% of one’s income directly to the church — she wasn’t just talking money. The Grammy-winning, neo-soul pioneer touched a nerve about how traditions intersect with economic realities. For others, it underscores the enduring role of the Black church as both a spiritual and communal anchor.

And it raises questions about whether one of the Black faith community’s most sacred traditions is helping close the wealth gap, or quietly widening it.

‘Group Chat Collection Plate’

Bishop Talbert Swan, prelate of the Greater Massachusetts Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, Church of God in Christ, wasted no time answering Badu. He clapped back in a Facebook post with facts and figures, throwing an elbow or two in the process.  

“The average church in America has 75 members or fewer,” wrote Swan, who is also an activist, author, and NAACP president. “Out of that 75, only 10% actually tithe consistently.” 

“That’s not a revenue stream,” he quipped, “that’s a group chat with a collection plate.”

With such a small average membership, a Black church “brings in $240,000 or less per year,” Swan wrote. “The average Bentley [luxury sedan] costs $300,000, which is more than many churches bring in all year. So no, the ‘math ain’t mathing’ and neither is [Badu’s] argument.”

Other pastors and theologians were quick to respond, emphasizing that tithing has sustained institutions that have long filled gaps left by systemic inequities, including helping people stave off eviction, put food on the table, and pay for college. Several have pointed out that tithes were the financial foundation of the civil rights movement. 

Tithe, or Bills?

Badu has not added to the original statement, but the conversation it sparked continues to resonate. For some, it raises necessary questions about how traditions intersect with economic realities. For others, it underscores the enduring role of the Black church as both a spiritual and communal anchor. But at least one Black finance expert says Badu may have a point.

The practice of tithing is deeply rooted in Christian tradition, particularly within Black churches. It has historically served not only as a spiritual discipline but also as a communal support system — and the financial foundation of the civil rights movement, which Swan pointed out in his post.

Badu and Black America, he wrote, “are enjoying freedoms today that were organized, strategized and fought for in Black churches.” Jabbing at Badu’s profession, Swan said the Civil Rights Movement didn’t meet at Spotify headquarters, but in sanctuaries. Churches and pastors led voter registration drives, he said — not concert promoters. 

Mutual Aid, Civil Rights

Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, has spoken often on the subject of church stewardship. He often reminds parishioners that tithing “has funded education, civil rights organizing, and community survival.”

Historians note that during segregation and the Jim Crow era, tithes from Black churches helped build schools, funded mutual aid societies, and gave financial support to political movements, including those connected to the Civil Rights Movement.

Scholars consistently note a gap: Black church giving is under-researched, especially compared to predominantly white congregations. 

Sociologist Sandra L. Barnes, author of one of the most-cited studies on Black churches across seven denominations. found that tithing is “normative in at least one-third” of Black congregations. The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Baptist, and Pentecostal denominations have the highest percentages of tithers, compared with Presbyterian or United Methodist congregations. 

Paying the Pastor First

While tithing may be more widely practiced in Black churches, congregants are typically giving with smaller sums of money than in white churches — the result of systemic economic disparities. Practically speaking, that means fewer people could become billionaires from withholding their tithes.

Still, some financial experts say Badu’s critique taps into a broader conversation about wealth gaps. According to data from the Federal Reserve, Black households in the United States hold significantly less wealth than white households, a disparity rooted in generations of discriminatory policies. Critics of tithing argue that consistent giving —especially among lower-income earners — can limit opportunities for saving and investing.

Dr. Boyce Watkins, a finance expert, author and founder of The Black Business School, has long suggested that redirecting even a portion of tithes into investments could produce long-term wealth gains.

“Never pay the pastor before you,” Watkins wrote on Instagram. “Pay for your bills, your investments, and your family. Nobody’s coming to save you. You have to save yourself.” 

Wealth and Inequality

But many clergy, including Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, argue that the fundamental issue is inequality, not generosity. Barber, a Yale University theologian, pastor, and civil rights warrior, points to structural barriers — including wage gaps, housing discrimination, and limited access to capital — as primary reasons for the scarcity of Black billionaires. 

Barber has said that the problem is “not that people give to God. The problem is systems that take from the poor and concentrate wealth at the top.”

If some question whether Black tithing has prevented Black billionaires, there’s no question that the practice has kept Black people from sinking further into poverty.

Besides funding schools, social services, and civil rights groups, church tithes have financed college scholarships, stocked pantries for food drives, and paid for school backpacks and winter coats. Just recently, Alfred Street Baptist Church in Metro Washington, D.C., donated more than $1 million to prevent more than 300 area families from being evicted; late last year, Spirit and Truth Church in Southwest Atlanta eliminated $1.5 million in medical debt for approximately 1,100 families in the region. 

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Within congregations, reactions to Badu’s statement have varied. Some younger churchgoers say her comment reflects a generational shift toward financial literacy and skepticism of institutional practices. Others see it as a misunderstanding of the spiritual purpose of giving.

And Rev. Dr. Gina Stewart teaches her followers that tithing is ultimately it’s a matter of faith.  

The practice, she says, “isn’t just about money — it’s about trust and obedience. It’s a theological principle, not a financial transaction.”

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