Expert: Dan Hotchkiss - 1/4/2010

Question
My question is one of a great value to me and my walk with Christ. Simply put, should the pastor have his hand in the church finances ? Not in the sense that he's in the dark, but as far as making deposits, paying the church bills, documenting tithes , counting offerings and tithes. This is very disturbing to me and it's to the point that I need to confront him (if it's wrong#, get over it #if it's petty) or find another church.Personally I feel that all that results into target preaching, friendships, positions in the church and so forth. He's pastored there over 15 years and the church has really grown under his  leadership.He's a very good man and I do love him but feel the need for this area to be cleared up. We have on an average Sunday aprrox. 100 to 125 in attendance. As a second note, the pastors brother is also very involved in the finances as well. Really need some Godly advice and wisdom in handling this situation. Thanks for your time.

Answer
Tony,

Your concerns are important ones that call for a careful but frank response. Often when a church grows, it continues with informal practices that may have seemed harmless at first, but can pose real dangers when more money is involved. No one should be handling cash deposits alone--this should be done by two unrelaated parties. Checks should be written by people who are not also involved in making deposits. These and other practices build donors' confidence that their gifts will be properly handled and used.

The governing board is responsible for making sure that money given to the church is handled in accordance with accepted practice and the law. A good resource for learning about proper practices is the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, www.efca.org, whose Seven Standards are a good starting point for bringing your church's practices into compliance.

Your pastor may welcome wider lay involvement in financial management, or he may interpret your concern as a suggestion that he is doing something wrong. It may be helpful to point out that the lack of oversight and clear procedure makes the pastor vulnerable to false accusations, so good practice would protect him first of all.

Good luck in raising these important and delicate issues with your board and pastor.

Dan Hotchkiss, senior consultant
The Alban Institute