Where Does All The Church’s Money Go?

Orginally published on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 9:56 PM
by Todd Rhoades

Here's an interesting article featured recently in the Bakersfield Californian. I think it's interesting because there are always people in the church who will want to know how much money is spent; and where it is spent. And, there are always going to be some that are upset at how church funds are used. The question is... how do you handle people like this? Here's the article... Duane Meadows gave. His church took. And Meadows is mad. "Some people are going to get tired of being milked after a while," said Meadows, who stopped tithing to his Bakersfield church last year. He has since left the church...

Tithing, in which members give one-tenth of their earnings to their house of worship, is the chief way churches stay solvent. Among non-profits, churches keep the most honest financial books, studies have shown.

Yet every church seems to have someone like Meadows, who vehemently asks:  Where is the money going?

Megachurches, defined by a recent study as those with more than 2,000 members, such as Bakersfield’s Valley Baptist and Valley Bible Fellowship, are even more prone to the query than smaller churches such as the one Meadows belonged to.

With expensive mission trips, sprawling campuses and dozens of sports and eclectic ministries, megachurches have been accused by some of lapsing into a materialistic suburban faith—wasting collections on frills and grand complexes rather than concentrating on preaching the unadorned message of Christ.

Critics worry that this is the wave of the future. Megachurches have increased 50 percent over the last five years, according to Megachurches Today, a new study by Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Dallas. There are more than 1,200 megachurches in America.

The occasional scandal of a church leader making off with donations— reported hotly in the media because of the irony—and televangelists living like millionaires, as reported in the 1980s and ‘90s, raised suspicions among a number of congregants about how donations are spent, local church leaders say…

Meadows said the church he left was spending money improperly. But Meadows wasn’t able to give concrete examples.

Even so, the outrage congregants have expressed toward Meadows suggests how touchy people get when church finances are called into question.

"There seems to be something sinful in asking people who run the church about the money," said Gigi Maurer, who attends First Presbyterian in downtown Bakersfield.

When church funds are abused by a leader, it’s often due to that person forgetting that he or she is beholden to the board of trustees, the church members overseeing finances, said Marilyn Adams-George, who has worked for churches and other nonprofits in executive positions for 35 years.

"If you are a director or a pastor or an employee of a nonprofit, you have to remember that you are a servant," Adams-George said. "When you lose sight of that, you’ll see the congregation get up and walk away.

"I think it’s wise to those in charge to have some humility and remember they are a servant (of the board)," she said…

As for megachurches spending time and money on posh buildings, church basketball courts, recreation leagues and myriad secular social programs such as scuba diving classes and chess clubs, the Rev. Phil Neighbors of Valley Baptist, attended by some 7,000 people, said such activities allow members to meet one another and form spiritual bonds.

Moreover, the substantial tithing megachurches receive enables them to help others to a greater degree than that of small churches, he said.

"The fact is our church generated $130,000 for Katrina relief," Neighbors said. "People say of such a big church, ‘Why don’t you give?’ We are. When the need is there, we can step up and make a major contribution."

Yet for Horton, who partly blames megachurches for America’s "moral decline," smaller is still better. He and his family currently attend a diminutive Church of Christ in New Mexico.

But he’s still not satisfied. He wants less.

Horton has told church elders to sell the church building and have the parish meet at the local fairgrounds or in a school complex when classes are not in session.

"First-century Christians didn’t have their own building to meet in," Horton said. "They met in people’s homes.

"It’s a huge waste of money to maintain a church building."

How do you relate your church’s financial matters to the congregation?  Have you ever had to deal with an irate individual or group on the subject of giving?  How did you handle it?

This post has been viewed 2326 times so far.


 TRACKBACKS: (0) There are 10 Comments:

Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

MondayMorningInsight.com | PO Box 446 | Bryan, OH 43506 |