The Value of Money Knowledge

32 ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 12:32-34

When I grew up, GAAP was not a store, but the Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures. These represent the best practices and ethical code for accounting so that it is a moral enterprise. Although it may sound odd to think about accounting as having a moral code, especially after the financial crises of the 2000s, which involved shell companies, financial statements that were wildly divergent from reality, and subprime loans, accounting doesn't seem like a vocation with moral standards. But, like any tax form that is initially two pages long, and takes approximately 1000 pages of description to fill out, there are manuals for GAAP that are thick, complicated, and updates yearly.

Today in class, Dr. Dalton asked "Should a pastor ever sign the checks for the church?"

I exclaimed "Absolutely not!" I was impassioned and adamant to the point that I could not contain my answer. To me this was a moral question as important as "Should a pastor ever tell someone else something shared in confidence?"

To follow GAAP, the person who decides where the money is to be spent, and the person who spends the money of the church by signing the check need to be separate people. The division of labor is an important way to share the work and protect the one who decides to spend the money. The check-signer and the money spender are accountable to one another. This division is an important value and standard for the church to hold on to.

So while I have not read the 1344 pages of the Whey manual on GAAP, here are some simple rules that I know are important for any congregation to follow:

• Did you divide the work so that no one can walk away with money without anyone noticing?
• Are you regularly reporting and getting your books audited?
• Is your bookkeeping repeatable? Could someone take over for you and do the same procedures that you do?

Accounting in a church is stressful. Yet proper accounting also represents faithful stewardship of the money that has been given in good will by members of the church in order that the work of the church might be done. In this, GAAP and following moral values in dealing with money as much as any other part of the church, so that our ministry in our world can be realized to its fullest potential.