Church Turns Down Lottery Winnings, $600K Tithe

The Bible and churches encourage people to give of their time, talents and treasures. A man tried to do just that recently after he won a $6 million jackpot in the Florida, but his home church refused to accept the $600,000 – or 10 percent – tithe.

According to WJXX-TV in Jacksonville, Fla., Robert Powell, a resident of Jacksonville suburb Orange Park and member of First Baptist Orange Park, offered the generous gift to his hometown church, but they wouldn’t accept it.

First Baptist Orange Park Pastor David Tarkington did not tell reporters exactly why the church refused the money, saying only he didn't want to talk about members' gifts, though a presumable aversion to gambling is involved.

Most churches oppose gambling in all forms, but Baptist churches have been particularly adamant against it. That doesn’t mean all pastors would turn down a $600,000 offering, though. One of them is the Rev. Lorenzo Hall of El-Beth-El-Divine Holiness Church in Jacksonville.

“I'm against the lottery, but if one of my members won the lottery, I wish and I hope he would give 10 percent to the church,” Hall told WJXX-TV. “We could do a lot of things with that money.”