“Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid…” (2 Kings 12:9) Frustrated by the lack of action, Joash takes matters into his own hands. At the king’s command a chest was made and a hole bored in its lid. The chest was then placed by the altar and […]
“Our Finance Committee looks at everything…” On the surface, this sounds reasonable. But, it all hinges on how one defines “everything.” The success of this statement in preventing or discouraging fraud depends totally on exactly what the finance committee or elders are given. Often, in the interest of expediency, those charged with the financial oversight […]
Let every priest receive the money from one of the treasurers, and let it be used to repair whatever damage is found in the temple." But by the twenty-third year of King Joash the priests still had not repaired the temple. (2 Kings 12:4-6) Joash decided to restore the temple. He instructed the […]
“We set up a separate bank account for each special fund to make sure the money goes where it is supposed to go…” Over the years, we have seen many churches take this approach. Rather than using their church accounting software to take care of measuring and tracking the restricted funds, they either open separate […]
The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. (2 Kings 12:3) The writers of Kings and Chronicles usually followed a pattern of describing the character of each king. The descriptions go one of two ways: Bad kings were described as those who “walked […]
“We have rotating count teams with clear rules that account for every penny we collect in offerings…” While this statement is not inaccurate, it is short-sighted. When churches think of fraud, Sunday offering protection is usually the first thing that comes to mind. And as a result, most churches do a very good job in […]
“Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” (2 Kings 12:2) Joash “came to power” at the ripe old age of seven. His life can be divided into two stark contrasting periods: The time when Jehoiada was high priest. – Joash was instrumental in […]
(About Church Business) It is extremely difficult but I try not to bring my work home with me. However, my thoughts often drift to finding ways to help churches while not in the workplace. For example, occasionally during my personal Bible study time I will see examples of good, as well as bad, financial […]
On September 9, 2010, St. Petersburg Times reported the following story: Pastor Pleads Guilty in Embezzlement Case Gregory S, 38, was an accountant for a staffing company when he was not busy preaching from the pulpit. During his employment with the staffing agency, he was able to write checks totaling $813,142 to his church without […]
News stories about church funds being embezzled by an employee or clergy are common, but embezzlement by someone charged with oversight is rarely reported in the media. A Michigan based news site, www.mlive.com reported the following story on September 16, 2010: Former Birch Run church leader charged with embezzling more than $100k from congregation The […]