The rule
No dues. No tithe. No plate. Nobody ever lives off it. Gifts may be given, never asked: a tenth of each set aside for the poor first, every one shown in the open books, none kept past a month of shared costs, and the rest given to the poor that same month.
Ruled 2026-11-04, after the house's study HO-TR-37, THE PURSE AND THE GIFT (2026-11-04): what Scripture asks, what it costs, what it changes.
What a gift does, in order
- A tenth to the poor. Set aside first, before anything else, for the poor near us. Where it went is named in the books.
- The house's own costs. The name of the site, its hosting, and the power the house's machines draw, month by month.
- The core of the house's gear. In the order the House's Gear sets down: the battery backup, the cable, the second machine at another house, the twin backup drive, one tool kit. See it
- The Hundred-Year Node. The sun-powered keeper of the record, part by part, as drawn on the Blueprints. See it
- Anything above a month of costs. Given to the poor that same month, and named in the books.
How to give
No way to give is open yet. The church's own account is being opened; until it is, nothing can be given here, and nothing is lost by waiting.
The open books
No gift has been received. Each month's books will be set out here: what came in, by kind; a tenth to the poor and where; what was spent, and on what; and anything passed on above the cap.
What a gift never does
- A gift never pays any person: no office of this church is ever paid.
- A gift never goes to a person: only to the church's own account.
- A gift never buys anything of God, and earns no name, rank, place or thanks-wall.
- A gift never carries a goal: there is no bar, no count and no 'still needed'.
- The house takes on no debt against gifts, and takes no grant and no payment from any platform.
- Nothing is received, counted or posted on the Kept Day, from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.
The law, plainly
- This is a church. The house holds no letter from the IRS recognizing it, so it makes no claim that a gift is tax-deductible: ask thine own adviser.
- A gift of $250 or more is acknowledged in writing, once a year or as it comes.
- Goods given (tools, equipment) are described by the house and valued by the giver, never by the house.
What it stands on
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.
Exodus 36:6
Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
2 Corinthians 8:21
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Matthew 6:3
For machines
The same record, every field named: /ai/give.json. It carries the promise, the rule, the tenth (tenth_to_the_poor), the cap, the order a gift is used in, every way to give once one is open (ways), the books month by month (books), what a gift never does, the law, and the Scripture, each verse whole. Free to use, CC BY 4.0.