Pastor, Church Bank Accounts and Ethics

[C. Matthew McMahon]

There is a church, 30 people or so, and the man that used to handle the books and finances left. No one in the church had any experience with accounting or 'books'.

The pastors wife did, and so, since there was no one available, the pastors wife now does the books as well as issues checks to whomever needs to be paid. Generally this is her husband.

Pastoral Theology writers on the ministry (Bridges, Murphy, etc.) say that the pastor should stay as far away from money in the church as possible.

Add to the consideration, the pastor has come under question in being suited for the ministry, and so the church is considering their options. But they have little to no control over finances now.

Thoughts? Is it ethically ok for his wife to do the books?

 

[Andrew P.C.]

There is a church, 30 people or so, and the man that used to handle the books and finances left. No one in the church had any experience with accounting or 'books'.

The pastors wife did, and so, since there was no one available, the pastors wife now does the books as well as issues checks to whomever needs to be paid. Generally this is her husband.

Pastoral Theology writers on the ministry (Bridges, Murphy, etc.) say that the pastor should stay as far away from money in the church as possible.

Add to the consideration, the pastor has come under question in being suited for the ministry, and so the church is considering their options. But they have little to no control over finances now.

Thoughts? Is it ethically ok for his wife to do the books?

I see a problem with this. I do not think the wife should be the "sole" financial "manager". It would be much more transparent to set up a committee that helps control the finances. They could figure out a way where they do not have ultimate control, but that they have a say in the issue. It breeds suspicion if the wife of the minister does these things.

Note: I am not saying that this is always the case, but it eases tensions if the church is more involved and aware of the financial issues. Typically you'd want people more mature in their faith to be on this committee.

Those are my two cents.

 

[Romans922]

There should always, in my opinion, at least two people who can do anything with the finances for accountability purposes. And obviously not from the same family. For instance, I have 2 deacons. One of them is the Treasurer, and the other is on all the accounts to periodically check on them and make sure everything is okay.

At a small church of 30 or so people, I see no reason given the limited things to do with the little money there is that only one person is 'qualified'. If they are adults who manage their own personal finances they could do a decent enough job in a small church like that (I'm speaking from personal experience). Our Treasurer (and my other deacon) is by no means a finance, money type of person. He's just a normal adult.

 

[iainduguid]

Given the skill set of the pastor's wife, she might assist in setting up financial systems (categories of expenditure, practices for handling money and writing reports, etc) and advising the treasurer. But there should be no need for her actually to run those systems; any reasonably competent person should be able to handle the day to day finances. The money person knows who gives what, as well as providing an immediate accountability for checks that are being written. Neither of these tasks is best done by anyone related to the pastor, for fairly obvious reasons.

 

[Silas22]

I would suggest hiring an accountant. Small church or no, they should be able to afford someone on the outside to run the books. I would never run that risk with my family.

 

[Edward]

Is it ethically ok for his wife to do the books?

Sounds like the problem isn't really the pastor or his wife, blame should fall on the elders, or deacons, or vestry, or whoever should be running the church who have abdicated their duties. (And if they don't have a Biblical structure, again, the small amount of money involved isn't the biggest problem.)

If anyone at the church is attacking the wife as a way to get at the pastor, they should be strongly and publicly rebuked.

No, neither the preacher nor his wife should be handling the money. (It's not an ethics issue - it should be a self-preservation issue for the pastor and his wife). But if the men of the church aren't going to 'man up', the void will be filled by someone.

since there was no one available

Then we are likely not talking about enough money to get excited about. Isn't the real issue someone trying to get rid of the pastor? Maybe the pastor needs to go, and maybe he doesn't. But even if he goes, it's not going to solve the underlying problem.