It’s a difficult question.
Indeed it is such a difficult question that I will not attempt to give a concrete answer. I will let you know what I’ve done in the past, but that’s it.
It’s really a difficult question. Who should be able to see what each person gives to the church? Let’s look at six perspectives.
- The lead pastor and one layperson. This perspective argues that financial stewardship is a spiritual discipline, and the pastor should have access to individual giving to be able to see how the members are doing in this regard. The layperson, of course, is the person who actually keeps the records.
- One layperson who guides the pastor. The layperson again is the member keeping financial records. He or she is the only one who has access to giving records. But that person is able to share information with the pastor or other leaders as needed. For example, the financial secretary can inform the pastor or elders about potential future elders according to their giving patterns. I took this approach as a pastor. I did not have access to individual giving patterns, but our financial secretary would let me and other leaders know if a person should be eligible for a leadership role according to their stewardship in the church.
- One layperson only. In this example, only the financial secretary (or equivalent) has access to individual giving records. He or she does not provide any input that would reflect this information.
- A key group in the church. In some churches, this group is the elders. In some other churches, it is the nominating committee.
- A staff person other than the pastor and a layperson. The pastor is specifically precluded from individual giving visibility. Instead, another staff person, such as an associate or executive pastor, has access to the records along with the financial secretary.
- No church members. No church member can see the records. Instead, a non-member is recruited or hired to keep the records, but that person does not share the information with any church members.
There are certainly different options and different variations of these options. I can see some rationale in each of them. These are really difficult questions.
What is your church’s practice? What do you think of these six options? What do you think is the ideal option?
Posted on April 13, 2016
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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160 Comments
I am 65 years old and have been a pastor since age 22. I have always been told the Pastor should never see the giving statements of church members for fear of treating major givers differently, etc. Pastors need to be firm that if a major giver uses his giving as a bargaining chip to get his way, he must be confronted. God will provide if you lose such a cancerous member of the church. Generally, I tend to think there is wisdom in not knowing actual dollar amounts, but there is also wisdom knowing whether folks are giving above the tithe, tithing, or on a track of increased giving to be tithing within a few short years, or have suddenly stopped giving. The truth is, if you are at a church for any length of time, you know who the big givers of time and talent are, you know the retired folks of limited means who are your ardent prayer supporters, you know the persons who have a heart for missions, you know who the young Christians are who may not yet be tithing, but have much potential for the kingdom, and so why shouldn’t you should know who in the church has a heart for supporting the church financially? It is one of many indicators of spiritual health. I ask, do you treat healthy church members differently than those who are apathetic, uninvolved and unsupportive? Lets be honest! I should hope you do! We must be good stewards of the time we invest in people, and always focus on those we can most effectively help to grow in faith. Financial giving is one of many indicators of a growing Christian. Pastors should be informed if a member suddenly stops giving. A sudden stop in giving can either be an indicator that a Christian is not happy at church and is soon to drop out, or there is a family crisis that may be an opportunity for the church to help. Either way, it would be nice for the pastor to know.
To avoid “pulling punches” or “special treatment,” I do not know who gives or how much. I’m not sure this is the wisest course, but for ME, and for NOW, I want to make sure that I never give extra attention to those who can give over those who cannot.
As for paying only in cash, I must tell you that while this is noble on one hand (perhaps to preserve one’s reward in heaven), there shouldn’t be the slightest whimper if one is overlooked for leadership because there is no physical record of giving. If bishops and deacons are expected to have enough of a public record to determine whether they are qualified to serve, then it seems only right for those who might want to serve in leadership to provide some sort of public (i.e., documented) record of giving.
Many years ago, a sainted man stood up in our church to testify. Tears rolled down his face as he mentioned how he and his wife and went with “cash only” for a long time, but that God had convicted him by telling him “I want a record!” For a long time, I wondered about this, but then it came to me that perhaps God wanted that man to know just how much he was really giving…or how much he was not giving. It’s easy to throw in a $20 and think that “covers” you, but when you see on a record book that you paid, say, only 2% of your income, it can open your eyes to where God wants to take you. (BTW, not the slightest shade is being cast here on those who do give righteously and secretly…rather, just to give some perspective).
I do wonder if some people are “enabled” to leave off giving if they know that the pastor will never know. In my church, my wife (who has to serve as clerk for the time being) and my finance committee (two sharp-as-tacks elderly ladies) likely know and see all…but my wife knows not to tell me. And so far, God has blessed us!
Excellent information. Thank you, Aaron.
I spent time working for a church management software company. On multiple occasions we worked with churches that only had one person with knowledge of the giving, and we noticed discrepancies while migrating data over. There have been many instances where we had to tell the church that they needed to check the books and they ended up finding out that person was stealing from the offering. Also, we have had occasions where the single person with access left the church or died and it created a catastrophic mess. I will refrain from posting a personal opinion outside of the idea that with the multitude of churches we worked with, having a single person with access rarely turned out well. As online giving continues to become the new norm, this problem only will intensify.
Also, most decent church management software systems have some type of dashboard function that can show charts/graphs etc. on giving to the leadership without ever having to see individual information.
We take approach #2. As the treasurer, I have this information and can comment on fitness for leadership roles. I will also look at the information individually and collectively on a periodic basis to call out trends, or particularly areas or families of concern, that we should be thinking about. For instance, last year our giving was staying at the same pace as the previous year despite an overall growth in the congregation. We needed to know what was driving this. Where new attendees not giving? No, it came down to a group of members (unrelated) whose giving had dropped off for some reason. So the pastor needs to understand that high-level, but he doesn’t need (and doesn’t want) name-specific information unless there is a specific reason for him having it.
I also have one other gentleman in the church that has access to this information in the event something would happen to me. Make sure you are replaceable!
Good word, Steve.
I am in the same camp as a previous commenter: I do not want to know specifics of who is giving what lest it even subconsciously affect my interactions with the people. I do ask that I be made aware of any major changes from the norm though, as it can be an indicator of a change, up or down, in spiritual or financial well being which might merit pastoral attention. One challenge, as has been noted, is those who give anonymously and another challenge is not knowing exactly what people bring in. The widow’s mite meant more than other more “generous” donors.
As the XP, my financial secretary and I are the only two who view giving records. My Lead Pastor knows this, and if he has any questions about potential leaders or deacons, I will give him a yes or no answer about these individuals.
Some of our members don’t like the fact that I know what people give as “no one” should know, but a few years ago, I did a consulting gig for a smaller church in which “no one” knew what people gave. The church was being primarily (over 50% of income) funded by 2 people who older than 75. This was a church running over 400. This info helped the pastor realize he had better start emphasizing stewardship as he had been really lax in talking about money. He did and the church has done well.
Point being, someone has to look, and in my opinion, it should not be the Lead Pastor.
Wow! That church would be in trouble when those two were gone. We have also gotten information from our Business manager when setting missions $ goals–he knew whether just a few were giving big amounts or whether it was lots of small gifts. This helped us as we did our preparation to set a goal and how to inform and inspire people to give to it.
I am a pastor who chooses not to know what anyone in the church gives. I am afraid that I might look at someone with a judgmental spirit if I knew they gave little or nothing. It’s not how I would respond on my best day, but on my worst day that concerns me. However, I do ask our financial secretary for statistics, facts, trends, etc. to be able to better understand our giving patterns as a church. And one more interesting twist, early on in my tenure at this church (I’ve been here 13 years) I had reason to believe that not all of our stewardship committee members tithed. God convicted me that I needed to address this. Long story short, we ended up changing our church bylaws to require that those who serve on the stewardship committee must sign a “tithing verification” form to affirm that they will tithe at least 10% of their income to our church while they serve on this committee. As a side note, approximately 50% of our regular attenders tithe. Out of the 13 years I’ve been here, I’ve preached a stewardship series 10 times. We have also done the Crown small group study in our groups.
Thom, quite the topic ! The Senior Pastor should have access but a mature Pastor will not go there. My preference is a non member financial secretary. I served at a church where the Pastor would review records before allowing anyone to serve in any position.
That church no longer exist. It just dwindled down to nothing.
Wow.
I have never wanted to look at those records. However, I must share this story. Recently a group of concerned parishioners and myself confronted a church member who was constantly causing strife and division in the church. As I collected accounts of his transgressions, I also wanted to consider whether his spiritual life was healthy. I considered how at meetings he would not pray with us…he would shuffle papers while I prayed. He would seldom come to church and when he did he would sometimes leave before the sermon. I decided to look at his giving history. Our church assigns giving envelopes to members who wish to use them and he has one assigned to him. I was shocked to see that he had not given since 2012! Yet, he complained constantly at meetings (and in the public) how the church is financially struggling because people aren’t giving enough. Seeing this info helped me solidify what I had suspected: this is one unhealthy church member. I never shared that info with anyone else and don’t intend to. I wonder if a special occasion such as this would warrant the pastor being able to see a person’s financial giving?
Another point to consider is if the pastor is responsible for the spiritual welfare of the congregation, then tithing would be one of those components. If giving were to suddenly decrease or stop, then this may be an opportunity for the pastor to check on the person who may be in need. Thoughts?
I agree 100% that this is a spiritual health issue!! Spiritual growth has many components, and one is how generous we are (time,talent, treasure). I understand how this information has and can be abused, however, leadership of the church needs to be able to see this component and others (serving, personal disciplines, investing in others, etc for healthy accountability conversations.
Todd –
I had a very similar situation as a pastor. I did not have access to financial records, nor did I ask. But, on one occasion, the financial secretary took it upon herself to tell me what one person was giving. He was a troublemaker and chairman of the finance committee, but he never gave anything to the church.
Similar story. I’ve served in churches where the staff did not know, but the church where I am currently we do know. As a pastor, I have found knowing to lift a burden and bring less stress. Nearly always the people who are most disgruntled, complaining, and stirring up trouble do not give a dime. When people quit the church over petty issues, while I still grieve for their souls, I also don’t have to wonder if the church will be able to afford payroll in a few months. It is sad that worship attendance can dip and fluctuate but total giving remain the same. In our church, those who are going to give are rock steady in their monthly generosity, but most who attend hit and miss don’t contribute at all. As far as “preferential treatment” based on people’s giving, my experience here has actually been the opposite. Those members who people think are big donors or act like they give a lot are treated differently by the regular church people who do not know the records, but the actual figures show their giving to not be near as high as people think. Knowing the records helps the staff treat everyone equally, as often the truly greatest givers are not the ones clamoring for attention.
For counting offerings and entering records, there must be at least 2 people to prevent any temptation of theft or accusations of misuse. Also, there will always be people who are willing to enjoy the prestige of a board position, teaching a class, or office of deacon without giving one bit financially. Our use of money shows our values, as Jesus said “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Those who do not trust God with their finances to still provide for their needs while they give to support the Lord’s work and His church are too immature and unqualified for leadership over fellow Christians. Their heart is not fully in the work of the Kingdom. In churches with zero financial accountability for leadership, eventually someone who never gives will be placed in leadership, and that always leads to trouble.
Our church is small, and so we have one lay person who acts as the financial treasurer, and then provides quarterly updates to the church on the “general” giving and expenditures, but not by specific person/family. I’ve never asked “who gives what” and really don’t feel that I need to. God provides what we are in need of, and that is enough for my heart to know God is working and moving in our members to be good stewards. Also as info, there are no salaries at our church so all money goes to the building we rent, it’s associated bills, and outreach.
At our church it is the Financial Secretary (non-paid member), her husband (an Elder) and on occasion the Deacon of Finance.
I am aghast at some of the responses. Giving is no one’s business… period! Count me out of being part of any church where anyone but an independent party knows. I can hardly believe these are serious responses, and somehow some believe they would not be influenced by the information.
T Chill, I totally agree. As a parishioner, not a pastor, I feel like I must be living under a rock as I can’t believe some of these responses. What I give is no one else’s business, especially the pastor. I see some of the more wealthy parishioners being treated more favorably by the pastor, just on the assumption that they give more to the church. Kind of sad.
Ferralyn, based on my reading I think most of the people have been hit in the head with a rock or have rocks inside. Sounds like a bunch of covetous people who need to look at other peoples’ giving. I am appalled, this will definitely be a question I now ask, and will specify I want to see the documentation on who is allowed to view giving. I have always assumed this was confidential. It was my practice as an elder, and I did not want to know… particularly large gifts…. they are none of my stinking business.
You tell ’em T Chil! And how about that guy Peter. Can you believe that he actually questioned Ananias and Sapphira about their giving? Uhg, the nerve!
A Dav, the nerve? that’s a good way to start heresy, rip something out of context and a good civil suit. You are ridiculous and your comment is laughable if I did not think you were serious. I am a CPA, and this is a clear violation of professional ethics anywhere as a conflict of interest, and you are clearly out of line as are many of these comments. Pastors, you should check with your attorney, because this could also violate other professional codes. If it was in government it might be illegal. It is certainly is concerning many Political contributions.
Hey T Chil, I agree with you, Peter should have been sued up and down by Ananias and Sapphira. What was God thinking on that one? Apparently He’s not a CPA.