AT ISSUE

I am a member of a small church and am in charge of handling the money. We put all funds into the bank, then pay our bills by check.

Not long ago, another member and his wife came to me and wanted me to take a special offering to the pastor's brother who is at a Christian college. I wasn't sure how to handle this, so I told the person I would ask and get back to them.

In the meantime, it seems the pastor took a check from the people and deposited it directly into his brother's bank account.

This didn't seem right to me, but I don't know what to do about it, if anything. What do you think?

OUR INSIGHT

There are two ways to look at this. Either it was a direct gift from the people to the pastor's brother, or it was a designated gift that should have gone through the church.

If it was a direct gift from the people to pastor's brother, then you should not have been approached. The people apparently did not intend to make a gift to the church, nor did they expect a tax deduction. As long as this is the case you probably should just let the situation pass.

If it was intended to be a designated gift, it was wrong for the money to be deposited in the brother's account instead of the church account. If the people seek a church tax receipt later you are well within your rights to deny one and should do so.

The person who has acted unwisely in all this is the pastor. The scriptures teach that we should "avoid all appearance of evil," and it does not seem your pastor has done so in this case. Regardless of the circumstances, he should have brought the check to you for deposit in the church account, then had it disbursed to his brother. I say this primarily because the gift was from church members and it was directed to one of the pastor's relatives. Being a party to such a transaction in the way you describe was not a wise thing for a pastor to do under any circumstances.

What should you do? Nothing. The whole situation is unfortunate, but it could be just one of those things. But if you are a good steward of the church finances you will keep an eye open for other such irregularities. If it happens again, you need to bring the matter up to your chief deacon or elder, your financial committee or whoever has oversight of such thing in your church. Don't make accusations, just state facts.

What if you discover these kinds of financial practices are normal for the church? I suggest you resign. Find a way to serve the Lord where you are able to maintain a clear conscience.

-DLH