Serving Money Versus Serving God: Time for Our AME Church to Repent
By Rev. Geoffrey S. Whitcomb, 1st Episcopal District
Despite the coronavirus pandemic that is now raging among us, the truth that some of our members are now jobless because they have been furloughed without pay or fired and all church events are now conducted virtually, we are still being required to pay for in-person-event apportionments as if nothing has changed. How can it be justified, in Jesus’ name? Could we not suspend all, or even a portion, of that levy in order to bless our members and neighbors who might not make it otherwise?
This is merely the latest in a long line of abuses and misdirected concerns wherein our denominational leaders repeatedly emphasize and prioritize the wrong thing. Indeed, the Council of Bishops recently appealed to the Federal Government to provide economic virus-related relief for AME Church properties but not for the actual rank-and-file members of the AME Church. All of this makes it high time for our Church, and particularly our Church’s leadership, to repent from its focus on serving money and truly turn to serving God and His people. May God have mercy on us as we fall down and confess our sins, in Jesus’ name.
I am sitting here in my living room, praying and reflecting on not going to any days of my Bishop’s Meeting—in this case, Founder’s Day 2020—for the first time since, well, ever. The absence is because of the lingering mystery regarding the First District Episcopal Headquarters building in Philadelphia being essentially sold for a one-time payment of $16 million, meaning that from henceforth, our church will be renting space instead of owning the building and there is no indication at all as to what any of that $16 million is going to go towards. (Similarly, there has been no real indication given as to what the $10 to $11 million “leftover” funds from the sale of the AME [Church] Publishing House building in Nashville will be used for.) Additionally, none of the transaction’s details, or even the decision to pursue it, were discussed or even shared with the ministers and lay members of the First Episcopal District! No, we learned all about it through The Christian Recorder.
Mind you, this is on top of the constant banging on the fundraising drum (almost always roughly) that already happens at fairly every meeting, and with every organization, of our Church. It all grates on one’s spirit! Without professional accountability, measures such as regular[ly-] published audits of Episcopal District and Connectional Department finances, public yearly financial reports at Annual Conferences, and publicly-available (online) annual financial plans and indebtedness reports made by the bishops, officers, and departments, it is hard to know what is really going on; and some of our leaders repeatedly acting as if any questions about their financial decisions are sinful, doesn’t help either! At what point, then, do we say that enough is enough?
What does our leadership have to say? I ask, respectfully, of the Council of Bishops, the General Board, and the Connectional Board of Trustees, including the CFO of our Church–what is our financial picture right now as a denomination, to the detailed level of revenue streams, debt load, and cash-on-hand? If we are in a “hole,” how did we get there and what have been, and what are, your specific plans (something you require local congregations to provide) to move the AME Church forward towards achieving and maintaining financial solvency? Are you all working together on this or is it a catch-as-catch-can affair relegated to only particular Episcopal Districts? Regarding the sales discussed in this letter, what are our Church’s specific plans for the $10 million Nashville “profit” and the $16 million Philadelphia land lease payment? Finally, and particularly during this trying time, when will our denomination move on from prioritizing fundraising to focusing on actual acts of significant and meaningful ministry?
(P.S. Although AMEs get punished for speaking out about this subject or not raising money, and rewarded for keeping their mouths shut while they keep giving what is asked for, instead of actually trying to imitate Christ and faithfully serve God’s people, I am signing this because God wants all of us to stand up and demand this to stop.)
The Rev. Geoffrey S. Whitcomb is the pastor of Union AME Church in Easton, Pennsylvania.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The sale of the AME Church Sunday School Publishing House were reported on in this article. Information regarding the “Future Fund” established by the sale of the building was reported on in the December 2019 CONVO report. All records of the sale were reported to the General Board and the Future Fund reports to the General Board through the Commission on Statistics and Finance.
