By Cynthia Gordon-Floyd, C.P.A.
It can be agonizing and painful to learn that the church is not using funds for its intended purpose. A breach of trust among God’s people is serious, and leaders must address it appropriately. Why is it so important to build a solid foundation of the church so that breaches of trust do not occur? Simply stated, if we have not built a solid foundation, we dishonor the Lord and His standard of holiness. We must rebuild and confront failure without compromise. We can learn and grow from failure, but we should never try to build on failure. Failure makes a great teacher, but it is a rotten foundation.
First, we must face the reality of our situation. Are we being proactive to avoid failure? We do not want to offend, so we often give without ever knowing how much the church raised or if the church used the funds for the given purpose. We remain quiet, and we think it is unloving to question our leaders. Yet, there is a respectful way to ask questions. Transparency should be the standard for God’s people. All should have access to accurate, timely, and consistent financial reporting.
We cannot continue the same processes and expect a different outcome. We should not be ignorant about how money is used and reported at the connectional, district, conference, and local church levels. We should not assume that proper stewardship will occur without accountability. If we accept the lack of accountability in many areas of ministry, we will continue on this path.
Here are a few steps we can take to build a stronger foundation in our Zion:
(1) Ensure that those charged with fiduciary responsibility for monies, governance, and financial reporting have the qualifications necessary to be given the responsibility of their position. Our Doctrine and Discipline should be rewritten for all components to revamp our position qualifications.
(2) Develop and implement proper internal control mechanisms in every aspect of our ministry so that an individual does not have control of receipt, custody, and disbursement of funds.
(3) Create internal audit and quality control committees at all levels of the Connection consisting of independent, qualified African Methodist Episcopal Church members to monitor compliance with our stated policies and procedures for all levels of responsibility.
(4) Use external fiduciaries with the needed expertise to assist with management reporting, oversight, and maintenance and who will be responsible for routinely reporting to all stakeholders.
Cynthia Gordon-Floyd is a certified public accountant and founder of Willing Steward Ministries, LLC. Willing Steward Ministries (www.willingsteward.com) is a financial consulting and accounting firm for churches and other faith-based non-profits, specializing in Bible-focused financial practices, pastoral compensation issues, IRS compliance, and other financial needs specific to churches. Cynthia is a graduate of Lake Forest College and holds her MBA in Accounting from DePaul University. She is a Steward and the Financial Secretary at the First AME Church of Manassas in Manassas, Virginia.
