The $6000 Disney Vacation and $1736 Cell Phone Bill
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Sun, September 11, 2005
- Viewed 200
- (78) comments so far
Take, for example, a recent article I read this week from a regional newspaper. To save some embarrassment, I'll not disclose the location, the church, or the people involved; but what happened is chilling; and in my opinion, sickening. (Please note that these details come from newspaper reports on what is alleged to have happened in this instance.)
Let's set the stage. A pastor is at a church of around 250 people. And he's been there for a significant period of time. But he leads a secret life. And no one at his church knows about what's really going on in the life of their pastor.
In 2003, the pastor uses church funds to pay $600 of his son's college tuition; $100 to a hairdresser; and even doubled his paycheck one month. No one noticed. Oh, and he took his family to Disneyland on a $6,000 vacation. Still, no one was the wiser.
Everyone in the congregation was unaware that their pastor filed for bankruptcy in 2004 to protect himself from 160 creditors. (that's one hundred and sixty creditors!)
Through this whole period of time; this pastor continues to pastor the flock, visit the sick, teach the Word... you know, the things church leaders do every day. And no one has a clue.
Still after all this, the pastor paid $20,000 of church funds for a wedding. Still, no red lights for anyone in the congregation.
Remember, this all happened in a church of 250 people.
The alleged misuse of money surfaced only when a new church secretary began getting calls from collection agencies about unpaid church bills. Upon checking the details, up to $100,000 is missing and unaccounted for.
How could this happen? How could one pastor be left so unaccountable?
It was really very simple: He had sole access to the bank account.
The pastor was immediately fired (although regional denominational officials wanted to put him on administrative leave. They still pay his rent, utilities, and health insurance). Why did this happen? Three real reasons, I think:
1. The Ignorance of the Church's Governing Board
You know... I don't think ignorance is a strong enough word here. The newspaper report said, "Because [the pastor] had sole control of church accounts, officials didn't know how he was spending the money." There was NO accountability. He was paying his own salary; church bills; and doing a little here and there on the side because he didn't think he'd get caught. Again, according to the news report, the pastor never even turned in any bank statements. The church's co-treasurer (I assume this was a figurehead position) didn't want to comment much.
Another example: The church's co-treasurer said that the church board did agree to pay the pastor's phone bill; but was appalled to find out that the bill was for $1700+ dollars. According to the board member, he had no idea it had gotten that high. Huh?!
So the leadership of this local body totally botched this one. The lesson learned: " A future pastor will no longer have total control of church accounts. Instead, checks will be signed by himself, the other co-treasurer and another church official."
2. The Calloused Heart of a Pastor
Sin has a strange way of slowly working it's way in to your life until (if left unchecked) it will control you. The small $100 payments to hairdressers lead to a $6,000 vacation, followed by a $20,00 wedding. I'm sure that this pastor would never have guessed a few years ago that he would become so involved in this one sin. But he did. He hid it; and continued to feed it. Before long it was out of control. Eventually someone had to find out.
3. An Apathetic/Unknowing Congregation
Unfortunately, there was no one close enough to this pastor (whether on the church board or just a friend in the congregation) who knew of his plight. No one was there to see the cracks in the armour. No one was a close enough friend to see that he was living beyond his means. And if they were there, they remained silent. The co-treasurer of the church said he was suspicious of the pastor's spending a few years ago, but said it isn't easy to suspect a preacher of wrongdoing. No, it's not. And evidently it was too hard for anyone who had any concerns to approach the subject.
So, why does this make me so upset?
Because this happens over and over again. And it happens in small churches and large churches. And because I've lived through a situation just like this in a church (probably a couple of them in my lifetime).
You see, this happens with all kinds of sin... money, sexual sins, integrity issues, etc. And it happens over and over again.
I write this so that this doesn't happen to you.
I write this so that this doesn't happen to your church.
Set up parameters. Protect yourself before any problems happen. Do it today. I mean, right now.
If you have total control of the church checkbook; get someone else into the loop.
If you have total control of the church's internet and computers, install some accountability software.
If you do counseling with the opposite sex, make sure all protection is taken... open doors, another person in the building, etc.
That way, you can not be accused of something that you didn't do. And you'll safeguard yourself against the temptations that grabbed this pastor by the neck.
Sorry to rant; but this seems so logical to me. Protect yourself and your church. Keep your staff members accountable. And submit to the accountability of your board. It can save your job, your marriage, and your future. It's that important.
I'm sorry, but I just get really tired of reading stories like this from all over the country every week.
Today's deep thought: Don't be Stupid.
FOR DISCUSSION: Wow... I'd like to hear your comments on any aspect of this article. Could this have happened in your church? What kind of things are you unprotected from right now? What will you do to change it? Is your board too controling or too lenient? How do you think this church's/pastor's problems could have been avoided.
Todd
We often hear about mega-church pastors that fall from grace. Sexual affairs; pornography; financial and integrity issues are all major reasons that many influential church leaders have fallen over the years. Many times we feel think that it’s easier for the large and powerful to fall; but that’s just not true…
Comments
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Mark Simpson on Mon, September 12, 2005
Rick Warren recently mentioned that accountability groups and similar individuals are still no answer for this problem, since he knew some that had fallen with all of these structures in place. The bottom line is, we only open up as much as we personally want to. Structures are not the answer; a heart like David’s is a big part of the answer. “Search me O God and know my heart; see if there be any (Heb.) way of pain in me.” “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight.” In His Kingdom we live before Him. He knows all we do and even why we do it before it is even conceived in motive, heart, word and action. Andre Agassi advertised a camera many years ago with the saying “Image is Everything.” In the Kingdom of God, motive is everything.
Jeff Benson on Mon, September 12, 2005
Often times the pendulum can swing to far to the other side when things like this happen. Balance is needed because under the guise of accountability for a pastor, a board or committee can sieze permanent control in a church when, in my opinion, a pastor needs to continue to be the leader and overseer of the flock. Accountability can be seen by a board/committee as permanent authority over the pastor to control the direction and vision of a church. I understand that in some cases the pastor needs to be relieved of his position but Biblical balance with the pastor as the overseer and leader plus regular accountability still leads to a healthy church body.
David on Mon, September 12, 2005
One of the easiest justifications for all of this is the idea that we don’t get paid enough, so the little “perks” are fair. When Money is tight, and a discretionary fund can be accessed to pay an unexpected bill, that can be a “perk”. A “Justified expense,” but then you never quite get around to paying the advance back.
It does start with the little things. “With whom much is given, much will be required -”.
As for Robert, you lost me with the masturbation thing.
And all these things can happen to women as well. Let’s not be sexist here. We can all be horny.
Yulande on Mon, September 12, 2005
Thank you for your article as well as your imperatives for church governance - so much needed. Yet, at the same time I cannot but ask myself if this growing picture of lack of accountability (to God first and foremost)is the state of the body of Christ on earth today? Has the body of christ become only an institution where we play the games of power, greed, lies, immorality…all that which characterises satan’s kingdom of darkness? What are we saved from in the first place when we turn to Christ and call ourselves christians - is it not sin, manifesting itself in darkness in all areas of our lives?
My second concern is for the lay people, the sheep. I see a resemblance between the ignorance of the church members today (not knowing the Word of God enough to be secure in their understanding of it and to apply its truths with wisdom and discernment) and the ignorance of the layity in Martin Luther’s time who could not read the Bible in Latin and thus was taught heresy (lies) by the spiritual leadership of the Roman Catholic church. May God raise up in the TRUE body of Christ the Martin Luthers who will stand for righteousness - even if our very lives should be at stake.
With the Word of God in our own language and with world wide teaching more numerous than ever before, a congregation has no excuse for happenings as set out in the above article. Our dedication and loyalty should be to Christ first of all. Our churches have to be a true expression of Christ’s body expressed in purity and righteousness, otherwise how will we discern between the spirit of the anti - Christ and the True, Holy spirit of God in the body of Christ? We are entering a time in which even the elect could be deceived unless on our guard…“not everyone who calls me Lord, Lord…but only those who do the will of My Father…”
bernie dehler on Mon, September 12, 2005
Matt says:
“You’re a piece of work, Bernie…do you just go looking for things that will piss you off? You obviously hate growing churches and leaders of those churches…why do you keep coming back to a forum of people who are eager to make as big an impact in the world as possible?”
It’s not the growing churches I hate, but the weak watered-down leaders of too many of them. Criminals like Pastor Hagee stealing from the flock (he takes over $1 million from donors every year). There are a few righteous org’s, like Focus on the Family and Coral Ridge Ministries. Those I admire and learn from. This is from my experience in reviewing their finances.
Billy Graham (and most “Church leaders” are like him) will never put down another minister or ministry, no matter how damaging they are to the body of Christ. They have the “Modesto Manifesto” that they claim to follow (it’s not on the web, so I appended it here, see below).
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
...Bernie
http://www.freegoodnews.com
PS: Here’s the Modesto Manifesto email to me by Billy’s org.:
MODESTO MANIFESTO
In November, 1948, while Billy Graham was holding evangelistic meetings in
Modesto, California, he met with Cliff Barrows, George Beverly Shea, and Grady
Wilson to determine how they would conduct themselves and their meetings in
order to be completely above reproach. The resulting “Modesto Manifesto,” while
not written down as a formal document, is the standard for accountability that
the Team has followed ever since.
The following resolutions could be applied to the life and ministry of any
Christian:
HONESTY
It was resolved that no communications to media and to the Church would be
inflated or exaggerated. The size of crowds and number of inquirers would not
be embellished for the sake of making the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
look better.
INTEGRITY
It was resolved that financial matters would be submitted to a board of
directors for review and facilitation of expenditures. Every local Crusade
would maintain a policy of “open books” and publish a record of where and how
monies were spent.
PURITY
It was resolved that members of the Team would pay close attention to avoiding
temptation-never being alone with another woman, remaining accountable to one
another. Wives would be kept informed of activities on the road in order to
help the wives feel a part of the Crusades.
HUMILITY
It was resolved that members of the Team were never to speak negatively of
another Christian minister, regardless of his denominational affiliation or
differing theological views and practices. The mission of evangelism included
strengthening the Body of Christ as well as building it.
Todd Rhoades on Mon, September 12, 2005
Bernie,
Sorry, but you’re taking us off-topic. Again, read the initial post; it has NOTHING to do with John Haggee or the pay-scale of megapastors.
I do like to see how you can make any topic about Haggee though. You’re showing your creative side. http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/smile.gif
Todd
Jorge on Mon, September 12, 2005
WOW!!!
What ever happen to love, grace and hope.
We as American’s always look at other guy instead of looking at our own hearts 1st. Pastors and church leaders are just like us (the flock) imperfect, but they bear the responsibility of us all as leaders. Mosses had Arron and Joshua to hold him up, who is holding your Pastor up….....We are commended to pray for our leaders, show lets pray that God will restore this Pastor in LOVE, GRACE and HOPE.
bernie dehler on Mon, September 12, 2005
Todd says:
“Sorry, but you’re taking us off-topic. Again, read the initial post; it has NOTHING to do with John Haggee or the pay-scale of megapastors.”
Todd-
It’s all about accountability. I’m giving a specific example of what’s going on, and how other “influencial” pastors are doing nothing about it. If Pastors can’t be role-models for 2 Tim. 3:16-17 and Matt. 18, how can we expect the members of their churches to know how to practice accountability???
In fact, I think the preachers are demonstrating the opposite of accountability, such as Billy Graham, by never rebuking any public church sin or serious doctrinal error.
...Bernie
http://www.freegoodnews.com
Keith Thompson on Mon, September 12, 2005
One word! Unbelievable! Todd; you did bring up something that I am dealing with right now. The point was that this pastor had no close friends in the church. The question is should a pastor have a close or a best frind from the church or from the board? I pastor a flock of 80 members, and my best friend is on my deacon board. My wife and his wife are also good friends. I don’t let it interfer with decisions or do I flaunt it, but still others seem to be upset with it. I think they are just jealous. A pastor can not be friends with ever member of the church. I think having friends in the church helps with the accountability. The pastor is more than just a leader, he needs encouragement and advise and should be able to rely on his flock. Maybe if this pastor had friends within the church, he would have not failed. Curious what others think.
Todd Rhoades on Mon, September 12, 2005
We won’t argue here Bernie. But we will stay on topic; and off Haggee and your take on megachurch pastors in this post.
Todd
Tom Riggs on Mon, September 12, 2005
I was a pastor of a small church for 6 years and had total control of the church checkbook , I was very open about money taken in with the congregration everyone knew how much I paid myself , how much the church rent was and expenses , we would have open meetings and everything was up front about finances , it worked for us but the temptation for pastors to abuse money is great , after out church closed I helped minister in another local church where the pastor and his family had total control of the money and found similar problems as your article stated , it’s a shame that the church is full of pastors who don’t do things correctly and biblically.
Monica on Mon, September 12, 2005
I’ve been the one who blew the whistle. It’s no fun, it’s tough to get people to see the truth, and it’s risky. However, I believe that when I asked God to open my eyes and see things through His, He did exactly that.
I seemed to be the only one who saw what was happening. I seemed to be the only one able to put 2 & 2 together. The designated funds were misused, the church’s bills were not getting paid, the vendors were calling, and I blew the whistle. Amazing…3 months later I was “let go” becuase the church couldn’t pay me.
Here’s my perspective: God put me in that place to expose the sin and wrong priorities. Nobody was STEALING but the church was not HONORING God with their resources. So…Satan started to have his way, God gave me the chance to respond and shed light on it, and I obeyed. Whatever I risked and lost was worth it because I know God will bless me for obeying.
The church? They got it together and now have more money than they budgeted for. They’re looking to bless others with it now. But…they actually repented and were ready to “scrub up” for God’s work.
Now then, I’m at a new church experiencing the same issues. Do I sense a pattern?
Brent Smith on Mon, September 12, 2005
Wow! Thank you, Todd, for the article! It illustrates once again how sneaky our adversary is! He uses “little” sins to lure is into the “bigger” ones! Larry Boy and the Fib from Outer Space!
I have been a minister for 15 years, and decided in the first church I served as pastor to have no check-writing authority. At one point in this church, I was both the pastor and treasurer. We only had two members other than my wife and me (Hey, it was in Montana), so there was never really a danger of “making off with a lot of money.” Even then, though, I considered the future, and the need for someone else to handle the finances. It became a policy of mine to never be one of the check-writing people in the church. The church, by the way, grew 850% during the 3 years I was there. We had 17 members when I left.
I served as the pastor of a church for about a year and a half in the Northeast. The man who had served two pastors before me coaxed the church into building on a small apartment. He then tried to run everyone off from the church and use the church building for his private business, living in the apartment. After he left, the church hired a business executive as their pastor (even though he, by his own admission, had never been called of God to be a pastor). This “pastor” formed a church board, but its expressed purpose was “to protect the church from the pastor.”
This is where I came in.
The apartment became the pastorium (we actually lived inside the church building, and my wife got to share the church kitchen). Everything I tried to lead the church in doing (including missionary giving) was opposed by the board chairman, who I later found out had been “groomed” by my business executive predecessor to be the next pastor.
What’s my point, and how is all this “on topic?” The sin and evil that we are guilty of doesn’t only impact us. It has a rippling effect that still hurts the church years down the road!
Peter McCarroll on Mon, September 12, 2005
As a Pastor, it grieves me to hear of these things happening. I agree that motive is everything, but because pastors are human, and humans are sinners, pastors are NOT totally above reproach. Most of our churches under pay pastors, but that does not justify “perks” that use church funds for personal use. Two things are needed here. First, pastors should be the first to say that they are not perfect. Second, Boards (for churches of any size) should have appropriate safeguards in place (called “internal controls” in accounting language), including policies for what happens when these are breached (we all know that the penalty for speeding is a fine, so when we get caught we cannot plead that we didn’t know it was wrong or that the punishment is too severe).
As a former auditor in one of the big accounting firms, I know that internal controls exist for several reasons. First, and most obvious, is that controls exsist to safeguard the assets of the stakeholders (the donors and congregants in our case). But what doesn’t get mentioned enough (although someone did mention it above) is that well-functioning controls protect the staff from false accusation. This is the point that we should stress in pastoral work. False accusations of any sort can severly damage our reputation and livlihood, not to mention that of the church (which is why most of this sort of fraud goes un reported). By having appropriate controls that PREVENT fraud, and controls to DETECT fraud, both the church and the staff are protected. Accountability is not sufficient.
It is not a matter of TRUST - when someone demands that we just trust them, we should immediately become suspicious. We are all sinful, and should have no problems in justifying our actions or expenses to others within the appropriate framework.
Doug Levy on Mon, September 12, 2005
Although it is absolutely imperative to have an accountability structure in a church where this would never become a temptation for Pastors, I see 2 more scenerios that would help in this area:
1. Plurality of leadership. The American Christianity structure of one Pastor is really NOT Biblical. Elders (see 1st Timothy and Titus) need to be in place for accountability in ALL areas of staff Pastor’s lives.
2. Accountibility among Pastors of a city (The City Church). As “Gatekeepers” of the community, we have a responsibility to make sure that the other Gatekeepers are walking in integrity.
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