BishopAccountability.org
	Who's Watching the Collection Plate? By Steve Metsch Southtown Star February 24, 2008 http://www.southtownstar.com/news/807931,022408covstory.article It happens in most Christian churches on any given Sunday. Call it the weekly envelope, free-will offering, donation - chances are a collection plate will be passed your way during a worship service. You place an envelope or spare change in and off it goes. But how do you know it goes where it should? In the Southland, pastors at two churches recently were asked to step down amid allegations of missing money. Investigations are ongoing at All Nations Community Church in Homewood and at Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic Church in Flossmoor. The board of All Nations fired its senior pastor, the Rev. George Thomas, accusing him of misappropriating $250,000 to $300,000 in church money throughout seven years. Thomas denies the allegation. The Rev. William Killeen, pastor of Infant Jesus of Prague, was removed from his post by the Archdiocese of Chicago after parishioners requested an audit of church funds. The archdiocese has declined to say how much money might be missing. Not a top priority Just where the money is going probably is not the first thing on people's minds when choosing a church. Ken Behr, formerly of Hazel Crest, is president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, which has more than 2,000 Evangelical Christian organizations from throughout the country as members. "People give to churches for different reasons than to charities. You go there to be fed (spiritually) on a weekly basis. "Some people give to churches out of a sense of obligation. There's a sense of obligation not only to pay the light bill or pay for where the kids go to Sunday school but also a responsibility to give for use of services at the church," Behr said. Victor Dickson, administrator of Family Harvest Church, 18500 S. 92nd Ave., Tinley Park, said, "Most people don't look at (financial) factors when picking a church. "People look at the pastor, the teaching, the programs and the services that are offered. They look at what churches do in the community and the extended community-like mission projects," Dickson said. Most churches make financial statements available when asked, he said. "We post on our Web site a pie chart that breaks down where the money is spent," Dickson said. But don't be put off by a church that doesn't have financial information readily available, he said. "At very few organizations can you just walk up and ask for that information. It's not something that happens, but again, that's why we make sure we put the information out in a public way," Dickson said. Know your counters The Rev. Kermit Krueger, pastor of First United Methodist Church, 9344 S. Homan Ave., Evergreen Park, said it's important to know who counts the donations. To avoid any chance of irregularities, a different team of volunteers tallies donations every week at his church, he said. "And we never have two people from the same family on the team. That's church law. A counter can't be the treasurer because that's who spends the money." Church members can designate where they want their donations spent, and meticulous records are kept of what goes where. "It all gets noted, and then there is a report the financial secretary makes each week for the treasurer. Amounts of money are designated to specific purposes, and at the end of the month, we are required to have paid out the designated funds," Krueger said. "The other thing is, we give quarterly statements to our givers. We itemize everything given (to the church) and the Sunday it was given," Krueger said. "This system has been working for the church for at least 75 years," he said. It's the same at Hope Lutheran Church, 424 Indianwood Blvd., Park Forest. The office manager inputs into a computer "who gave how much, so we give each (church) member a quarterly report of the offerings. We've been doing that for years," Heggen said. "Knock on wood, we haven't had any problems." Smile, you're on camera Nearly 400 people attend services each Sunday at Anointed Word International Ministries, 3434 W. 159th St., Markham, the Rev. Jacqueline Anderson said. During offering time, people place envelopes into the collection basket. Each envelope has their name and the amount of money inside. The envelopes are collected by deacons of the church. "After it's all received, we pray over it in front of the congregation, and then it's all taken to the finance department," said Anderson, who is pastor. In the finance department, "four or five people count the offerings," she said. And in a sign of the times, they are not alone. "There's a camera in the finance department, and we triple check to make sure all the cash is counted and agreed upon. There's a recording of all the envelopes, the checks and the credit card payments. "When I say 'triple check,' all of the dollars are sorted by denominations, then the next person counts it to make sure it reconciles with the count, so there aren't any two bills that may stick together. Then it's all gone over by the church finance director," Anderson said. As an added measure of insurance, the finance director is bonded. Anderson said there have been no problems with any offerings since the church started in 1990. Bigger is better? The larger the church, the bigger potential for problems, Behr said. As a church grows, so should the financial controls. If you and your wife run a small church with 25 members, there's nothing wrong with one person counting all the offerings, he said. "But if it's a megachurch with $500,000 every week, you can't have one person counting that. If you're not sure what to do, go to a racetrack and watch them count the money. They are the best," Behr said. Have faith and pay attention Carl King Sr. has faith in the goodness of man. However, the pastor of Christ Community Church, 1151 E. 170th St., South Holland, knows nothing can be taken for granted. "Accounting for the money is very important. We're 20 years old, and before we began, we brought in a CPA and had him set up our system so that we could have a church that was trustworthy," King said. "You have to let the church know that everyone is going to be held accountable. There are going to be background checks on people working in certain areas. When it comes to money, it's the same thing," King said. Church members are happy when "they see their contributions at work and investing in the lives of others and making a difference." Credibility Reports of missing funds at other churches are hard on all churches, regardless the faith, King said. "It's hard on us, too, because it speaks to the issue of credibility. How do you deal with that? You make sure you do the right thing, so, if there is scrutiny, you don't mind. You almost encourage scrutiny because it keeps everything on an even scale. "It's unfortunate in the time we live in, but everybody that goes into the ministry does not go in for the right reason," King said. Archdiocese guidelines Roman Catholic churches are affiliated with the Archdiocese of Chicago, which has a "best practices" set of guidelines for churches to follow. There also is a hot line people can call if they suspect any irregularities when it comes to the money flow at their church, said James Accurso, associate director of media relations. The hot line is anonymous. In a prepared statement for this story, Tom Brennan, the archdiocese's director of finance, said: "It is very important that parishioners can be assured that the donations they make to their parishes are collected and accounted for in accordance with the archdiocese's best practices, and will be used for their intended purposes." The Rev. Jay Finno, pastor of St. Stephen Church, 17500 S. 84th Ave., Tinley Park, has followed the guidelines since the parish started eight years ago. "When the collection is done, we seal the bag immediately near the back of the church. Then we bring it up and put it by the altar. Then it's taken by a couple people and put in a safe. There are teams of four to five people who count it. They come in sometime on Sunday, and none of the bags are opened unless two people or more are present," Finno said. When all the counting is done, the money is placed into locked bags and driven to the bank for deposit in the church's account. But that's not all. Once again, to ensure nothing out of the ordinary happens, the person who drives the money to the bank never goes alone. They are followed by another person in a second vehicle. Again, it's done not because of suspicious minds but to help prevent any questions from arising. And after the bank? How do you protect church funds after they have been safely deposited in a bank or another financial institution? What's to stop a church board member, employee or pastor - anyone with access to those funds - from using the church's money? Anderson has a simple solution: two signatures. "Two signatures are required on every check that's written off the church's account," Anderson said. "We have a couple people in the finance department whose signatures are on file with the bank, and those are the only people who can sign the checks. And it has to be two people. Always. That's the way we've had it from the beginning," Anderson said. Behr, of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, based in Winchester, Va., said the two-signature system works to a point. "That helps, but does the second person sign and then hand the check back to the first person? If they do, it defeats the purpose. They should split responsibilities. The first person checks to make sure the money is in the budget and that there is an invoice. The second person makes sure (the check) goes where it's supposed to go," Behr said. Churches should act more like businesses, he said. "Churches are reluctant to adopt policies like separating duties or having invoices because pastors are trained to be pastors. They don't teach business classes in seminaries," Behr said. The National Association of Church Business Administrators (www.nacba.net) is a good source for financial advice, he said. The nearest chapter is at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in west suburban Winfield. Heggen hires an accountant for the annual audit at Hope Lutheran Church in Park Forest. The person is not a church member. Staff prepares monthly financial reports for Hope Lutheran's board of directors, "to tell them where the money went," Heggen said. Churches must do a better job of hiring people who are trustworthy, Behr said. "Churches should not be the employers of last resort. If you hire a bookkeeper, youth minister and receptionist who can't get jobs anywhere else, it's not going to lend itself to becoming a good organization," Behr said. But in the end, there's no perfect safeguard. "In any organization, when there's collusion, two people working together to defraud the organization, you've got problems even if controls are in place. It goes back to your hiring practices, to hiring the right people," Behr said. Steve Metsch can be reached at smetsch@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5996.
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