Churches and Money: A Rant by Linda Dugan

Yesterday I had an interesting discussion with a person "in the know" regarding a very large church in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. They are experiencing "money troubles" among a bunch of other troubles.

Now, I have learned that when it comes to estimating things regarding money if I think about what something costs and double that amount, I am usually right on. For example, when we walk into Nordstrom at the MOA, Terry and I play a little game called "Guess the Price of the Garment". I am usually correct or close. Here's how I do my figuring. If I think the garment might be worth $125 (this is Nordstrom's remember), my guess is $250 and I am usually within $10. Mr. D is amazed. But I digress. Back to the topic at hand.

When chatting with this "person in the know" I mentioned that I thought the salary of the main pastor at the money troubled church was probably $250,000. (Thinking double what I thought the max for a pastor of that size church should be). He said, "You are correct, madam."

Hence, my need to rant.

Here it is, MamaD's new policy on giving money. I have thus far come up with 4 areas of giving set forth in the Bible.

1) Orphans
2) Widows
3) Saints in need
4) Pastors (we are even told to give them a "double portion" if they do a good job)

What is not on the list is:
1) Large buildings
2) Expensive sound systems and video equipment
3) Plush offices/facilities
4) Marketing and ad agencies
5) Consultants
6) Travel to other churches (trips usually taken in winter to churches in warm climates) to observe how they have achieved success

Now, here's how I plan on putting that into into practice.

1) I will not give money to a church where the congregation does not vote on the appointment of a pastor.

2) I will not give money to a church where the congregation does not know how much the pastors make in salary,benefits, and other compensation AND vote on it. I am told that in the Presbyterian church approval of this amount must be from both the congregation and the local presbytery. Excellent system.

I am the director of a non-profit. (I am not compensated for this, by the way). I have no problem with anyone asking to see the books at any time. We have nothing to hide.

It seems even more important at the local church level where revenue comes from donations of the members. If a congregation doesn't vote to approve the salary of the pastors, and if the amount is not made known to the congregation, I operate under the assumption that they are hiding something. Hence, no dinero for you.

3) No money for high tech sound and video.

4) If you are an orphanage, you are at the top of my giving list.

5) If you are a saint in need or a missionary, you are on my giving list.

Also, to continue my rant.

If you are a pastor who says you are very careful about how you spend donated money and you are keeping your salary, benefits, and other compensation from the members, a big red flag goes up in my mind and I assume you are hiding something.

Oh, and one last thing to rant about. If you are a pastor and you tell everyone about how "humble" you are, you are proving to the world that you are not humble at all.

I am sick of leaders in the church using other Christians to benefit themselves financially or further their careers. It stinks.

End of rant.

Have a nice day.