 Money matters  The Layman Volume 40, Number 3, Posted November 13, 2007
Spin-off plan
Warned by former Princeton Seminary President Thomas Gillespie that a campaign disappointment would be disastrous for the denomination’s future, Heart and Hands leaders began a desperate search for ways to report their failure as a success. Noting that several presbyteries already had launched their own campaigns for new church development funds, Heart and Hands negotiated an arrangement whereby dollars raised in these presbytery campaigns could be counted in the Heart and Hands total. Presbyteries were assured that although Heart and Hands would claim credit for the money, no dollars would change hands. The presbyteries would raise it. The presbyteries would spend it. But Heart and Hands would add the numbers to its own reports. These reports have helped Heart and Hands’ managers claim some modicum of success. They now say that they have raised $27,560,367 million in cash and pledges. But the fact of the matter is that, in many instances, these are not new dollars raised by Heart and Hands. The Presbyterian Church (USA) is suffering a serious erosion of trust. This did not happen overnight. For years, the Office of the General Assembly paid lip service to a constitution that it refused to enforce, vainly hoping that by looking the other way, it could maintain peace. Denominational wordsmiths suggested that Presbyterians who will not abide by constitutional standards simply say that they are, according to their own private definition of those standards. The 2006 General Assembly exacerbated that duplicity by reaffirming the ordination standards, while simultaneously saying that local governing bodies need not obey them. The Office of the General Assembly privately admits that the Presbyterian form of government is representative, not hierarchical. But its lawyers are advising presbyteries to make hierarchical claims when taking congregations to court over their property. Increasingly, Presbyterians in the pews understand that their denomination has an integrity problem. With this realization comes the loss of trust. Responsibilities We urge our fellow lay leaders in congregations of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to take their fiduciary responsibilities seriously. It is not enough for session members to satisfy themselves that money given by their members is channeled to the appropriate denominational fund. One must continue to follow that money through that fund and to its final disposition. When your people gave an offering to help the victims of Katrina, was it spent for that purpose? Will it be used to fund some proposed disaster bureaucracy? If your congregation gave an offering to help Katrina victims, your church session has a fiduciary responsibility to make sure that Katrina victims received the funds. Words are wonderful. After all, we are people of the Word. But the deeds we do in service to the Word also are critically important. For the Lord’s sake, follow the money. The Rev. Parker T. Williamson is editor emeritus of The Layman. |
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