We need more info:

1) Layout or playback? (or perhaps both?)

2) Do the three 8th notes have the same pitch? - or three different pitches?

Different pitches.  See two notes tied for first syllable of "holy."  I need three notes tied for first syllable of "Thursday."

I might do something like this:

Rick,

You're confusing ties with slurs. Only use a tie when the pitches are the same. You should be using a slur which is found in the smart shape tool. You can use slurs for 2 notes, 3 notes, or as many as you need.

As Jeff said, you’re confusing the tie and the slur. Choose the slur tool, and double-click and hold on the first note. Drag the cursor to the fight. As you pass the second note, you will see it highlight. Keep dragging until the third note is highlighted, and release the mouse button.

Here’s a link to a tutorial I wrote for barbershop, but the principles are the same: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gn5sadj3flmvluq/Ties%20vs.%20Slurs.pdf?dl=0

Thanks, Jeffrey. Even though I've had Finale since version 2.0 I don't use it very often.  Since the tie button was visible I just clicked it and it worked fine for the first two notes even though the pitches were not the same.  I changed to slurs and it works as expected.

Before this thread is closed is there anyway to make the slurs more consistent?  It seems I have to manually select the start and stop point and each one I do looks a bit different from the last.

The slurs may vary depending on the note placement (line or staff) distance between pitches, and note spacing. Generally, I find the default placement pretty good, although long ones do occasionally need a tweak. 

If it’s just a two-note slur, double-clicking on the first note should give the optimum placement and shape.

Rick,

In you smart shape pulldown menu, make sure you have "attach to notes" selected, rather than "attach to beats". That will give you better slur placement.