Caring for the finances of the global church

Editor’s note: Church finances, as operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is a complex task. From the time E. S. Walker was elected as the first treasurer of the General Conference in May 1863 to the present, the church has had 24 treasurers—all of them with their associates carrying the mandate of being efficient stewards of the church’s finances worldwide. In 1863 Adventists gave $8,000 in tithe; last year, the worldwide tithe alone amounted to US$1,602,733,957. Add to this various freewill offerings, gifts, and asset growths, andthe church has an enormous responsibility to manage the finances, to care for the rapidly growing work around the globe, and to plan for the future. Currently this work is cared for by a worldwide team of treasurers. At the church headquarters, the financial leadership consists of Treasurer Robert Lemon (RL); Undertreasurer Steven Rose (SR); Associate Treasurers George Egwakhe(GE), Jose Lizardo (JL), Daisy Orion (DO), Juan Prestol (JP), and Roy Ryan (RR).¹

Because of the tremendous impact of church finances on the worldwide mission of the church, the editor of Ministry, Nikolaus Satelmajer (NS), recently had a conversation with the church’s world treasury leadership. Excerpts:

NS: How does your work as treasurers impact your spiritual life?

RL: I’d say it’s more the other way. How does my spiritual life affect my work as a treasurer? My spiritual priorities make me look at my work from the perspective of ministry rather than simply one of financial management.

SR: To see how the Lord blesses, how He continues His work through tithes and offerings given by faithful members of the church, is faith affirming. It’s just been wonderful for me to see this for so many years. God always makes the resources available.

JL: Seeing over the years how God has enabled the church worldwide to overcome many financial challenges has impacted my spiritual life. Nothing is impossible for God.

RR: Often I have seen that the Lord works with human beings even in their weakest moments. This is particularly so when the core spiritual relationship with the Lord remains true and unwavering. That relationship helps us to discern not only the difference between right and wrong, but also to act in such a way that even in difficult and challenging moments, one maintains one’s basic spiritual relationship with God, and others. Such a spiritual stance, based on a redemptive relationship, has impacted my work as a treasurer.

NS: The General Conference treasury team consists of a treasurer, one undertreasurer, five associate treasurers, and other staff members. As treasurers, what are your primary areas of responsibility? Bob Lemon, you’re the treasurer. Is it fair to say that the overall responsibility for the financial operation rests with you?

RL: Yes, but it is a team work. I have certain areas that I work with more closely, such as Loma Linda and other boards.

GE: I take care of the General Conference capital budget, insurance, training of treasurers, and I am manager of General Conference sessions.

JL: My main responsibility is to take care of the missionaries around the world, known more recently as interdivision employees.

NS: And that’s quite a few individuals, isn’t it?

JL: We have more than eight hundred paid interdivision workers.

DO: I’m in charge of corporate matters. I am the secretary of the corporation—the legal entity that holds properties and takes care of legal matters on behalf of the General Conference.²

RR: I care for the investments of the church. I also deal with property development and provide consultation wherever needed.

SR: The traditional role of the undertreasurer is budgeting, and as such I care for the world budget, the in-house budget, andvarious cost centers at the church headquarters. I also serve on the Andrews University board and the Review and Herald Publishing Association board.

JP: My responsibilities are mostly in the North American Division. I also take care of a few cost centers at the General Conference.

NS: What percentage of the tithe received from around the world is used for the actual operation of the General Conference world headquarters here at Silver Spring, Maryland, United States?

SR: Two percent. That’s our cap. We’ve always been under that. Last year, our actual operation was one-point-ninety-four percent of the world tithe.

RL: If you include tithe and all offerings, it is less than one and a half percent.

NS: Has that been a fairly constant percentage, or has it been up and down?

RL: Before 1992 the percentage was higher. In 1992, there was a limit put on the operating expense for the General Conference, which at that time was four-point-twenty-five percent of what we received from North America, and one percent from the overseas divisions. Even that amounted to more than the two percent. Then in the year 2000 we moved to the two percent cap.

NS: Do you give guidance to the conferences, unions, and divisions about keeping a healthy balance between office operations and field operations?

RL: As part of our work, each of us is assigned liaison responsibility to one or two of the divisions, and we work closely with the treasurers of those divisions.

NS: Roy Ryan, since you deal with investments, what principles govern the way church funds are invested? What measures are employed to safeguard church funds?

RR: We’re interested in safeguarding the funds that come to the General Conference. The funds come for different kinds of activities and it is those objectives that govern the length of the investment time. So we use a diversification of managements and styles, diversification in terms of the number and type of companies to guide our investment. We are also careful to ensure that the values of the companies in whose stocks we invest are not at odds with the values of the church. For example, we cannot invest in companies that are involved in pornography, gambling, tobacco, alcohol, meat, caffeinated beverages, etc.

NS: A specific question to Steve Rose and Juan Prestol. Historically, the church in North America has been a major contributor for the operation of the worldwide church. How significant is that contribution? To what extent are the other parts of the world becoming self-sufficient?

JP: The church in North America has been and continues to be a strong supporter of the mission of the world church. North America may be contributing around seventy-five to eighty percent of the world budget of the General Conference.

SR: Close to eighty percent.

JP: And this, in spite of the fact that the church membership percentage in North America is becoming smaller and smaller. Right now, North America has about seven percent of the world membership, but supports eighty percent of the world budget. That’s quite a strong support.

SR: Strong indeed. But tithe from other parts of the world is increasing. There are some divisions that have been very intentional about self-support. I’m sure some parts of the world will always be dependent on other sources, but the change in the tithe sharing that took place in the last quinquennium(2000–2005) has caused the world divisions to send more of their tithe to the world budget. North America’s percentage of tithe contribution is steadily reduced so that there is more sharing from outside of North America for the world budget. The divisions are carefully working with their fields to try to move toward self-support, but for some it will be a long process.

RL: Three or four years ago divisions other than North America surpassed North America on the mission offerings. And the percentage of tithe worldwide—not what comes to the General Conference because we get eight percent from North America and two percent from the others—the percentage of total tithe from the world has also shown an increase. Juan, what’s your tithe from North America?

JP: About eight hundred and sixty million dollars.

RL: Eight hundred and sixty million, and the total for the world field is one-point-sixty-six billion. So the tithe from divisions other than the North American Division is approaching that of North America and it will soon pass that, simply because of the membership growth.

NS: If a church member is interested in knowing about the finances of the church, what information is available to the member? Are budgets and statements available?

SR: If someone wants a financial statement, we’ll be happy to send one. Our Web site does not carry such information.³

RL: We often send out copies of the financial statement. We can share a copy of the budget if an individual asks for it. For security reasons, we do not put these statements on the Web.

JP: Our process for disclosing financial information is mandated by the bylaws. The by-laws instruct treasury to disclose the statements through the audit review committee and the executive committee. We are also required to provide such statements to the constituencies, and this we do at the level of the constituency whenever we have a constituency session. At the General Conference Session there is a full disclosure. In other words, the by-laws dictate how we should disclose the information.

NS: At the Annual Council and Spring Council,⁴ which are open to the public, individuals may attend and receive financial reports.

RR: On occasion we have provided a list of the investments, not the amounts, but a listing of the companies at that point in time. But the list is not permanent, as changes in investments occur continually.

NS: I want to focus on auditing, which has certainly been a topic of discussion, particularly in the U.S. corporate world. Can you inform our readers about the process of auditing in the church? How would you compare this to what is done in the business world in general? Are we using similar standards or is this just an in-house auditing, as some people seem to think?

RL: The General Conference is not audited by the General Conference auditors, but by an external auditing firm. Thus our audit is an independent audit. We have set up an audit committee that is made up of lay people as well as denominational employees. No one on the General Conference Audit Committee is an employee of the General Conference. In addition, the General Conference Auditing Service, which does a majority of the audits around the world, is probably more independent than most independent auditing firms, and certainly has high quality of service and follows GAAS5 in their audits, which are the accepted standards.

JL: According to a professional, who is not an employee of the church, our system ranks very high among not-for-profit organizations.

RL:Just a comment from the chair of the General Conference Auditing Service (GCAS) board who is a layperson, a professor of accounting at a non-Adventist university and who has worked on government commissions in the area of accountability and auditing. He stated at a farewell function for Eric Korff, who retired earlier this year as the director of the General Conference Auditing Service, that GCAS meets the gold standard of ethics when it comes to auditing.

NS: All of you have worked in different parts of the world—three to five countries, I understand. Except for one, six of you were born outside the United States: Bolivia, Congo, Dominican Republic (two), Nigeria, and the Philippines. That brings in quite an international flavor and expertise to the treasury team.

JL:Even the one who was born in the United States has overseas mission experience. It’s a plus, all around.

RR: I spent most of my working career outside the U.S. Twenty-three years in all.

NS: As you look at the financial picture of the church, what are some of the encouraging trends worldwide?

SR: We like the new trend in mission offering. It’s positive and upbeat. The office of Adventist Mission—their reports, DVDs, and continued promotion—has helped bring about this change. We’re getting the story out better.

RR:Another positive trend I have noticed is the willingness of church administration, and more significantly the lay members, to take a look at the land the church owns as an asset to be managed. Increasingly the question is faced: Can we do whatever’s being done at a given site in another location, because the present site, purchased years ago, has become an extremely valuable piece of land which if sold can generate large amounts of money that can be ploughed into the new facility and other mission-oriented projects of the church. This is something we’ve not addressed in the past. Now we see more conversations and an openness to take into consideration how to turn our fixed assets into avenues of fulfillment of the larger mission of the church.

RL: What this means is re-investing in property and buildings wisely and more productively. For example, we may have a church or facility in one place. Those who used those facilities have moved away and may be commuting to it or may have transferred to another church. The property, however, has great value but is being underused. It can be sold and a better facility built in a more appropriate place, and we may still have money to do other projects.

NS: Are there some trends that cause you to pray, “Lord, I’m a little concerned”?

DO: While slow membership growth in some parts of the world may be a cause for concern, we need to be thankful for the opening of the work in many areas of the Ten/Forty Window.⁶

GE: Another cause for concern is that rapid growth in membership does not see a corresponding growth in stewardship.

NS: So there needs to be an emphasis on the total package. Will we ever have enough funds?

RR: The church has grown and become what it has because of the faith with which our leaders and members have stepped out and affirmed that God will complete His work. We are not entirely clear where the funds will come from, but we are confident that the Lord is leading this work and that He will provide. If we ever come to a place where there are more than enough funds, then there’s something wrong with the focus of how we view mission.

NS: Thus our goal is not to accumulate funds but rather to complete the mission, and that’s not going to be done until the Lord comes.

RR: The Lord blesses us with resources with the full intention that they be used, not that they be horded. But the challenge of the vast mission yet to be accomplished must keep us on our knees and look up to see the Lord open the way. Faith builds as well as hopes.

JP:We always have more plans than what we have money for, and I believe that until the end, our plans will exceed the assets that we have.

NS: That’s been the case from the very beginning of the church, hasn’t it?

SR: Yes, that’s what forces us to prioritize, to work diligently, and to pray for greater things.

NS: What I gather from our conversation thus far is that you consider your work in church finances as really a spiritual ministry. It’s not just the management of money for the sake of managing, but rather being stewards of God’s resources.

RR:If our work is just managing money, there are jobs outside that we could do and get paid a lot more. We are here to participate in the mission and growth of the church, and as the Lord leads this church, to be involved in church finance is pretty much a spiritual experience.

JL: This is not a job, this is a calling.

NS: So, when you succeed in your work, you don’t get rewarded with bonuses. What’s your reward?

RR: Satisfaction.

RL: Quite often, people have asked me, “As treasurer of the church, what causes you not to sleep at night?” My response has been, I don’t have problems sleeping at night, because if I thought I was in charge of it, I wouldn’t sleep at all, but the Lord’s in charge. The cattle on a thousand hills are His, everything is His, and the only thing we miss when we don’t return our tithes and offerings is the blessings He has promised us.

NS: Well, I have one last question. Our readers are ministers in various roles—ministers who pastor ten, fifteen or twenty churches; pastors of small congregations, large congregations; and ministerial teachers and conference administrators. Ministry literally goes around the world. If you could say something to that group of readers, what would you say?

JP: They should become more familiar with how the church functions around the world, how it makes enormous efforts to maintain integrity, to preserve assets, and to accomplish the mission in a responsible fashion. Their faith in the church will lead them to encourage members to be faithful as good stewards.

RR: Pastors are absolutely essential to the success of the church. Without them, it would be difficult to provide all of the services that a pastor provides to a local congregation. Without pastors and the leadership skills they bring, the spiritual life they bring into a congregation, the example they set, there simply wouldn’t be any resources for us to manage. Yes, the Lord will finish the work; the lay members have a central role in the life of the church; but the pastors do carry a vital responsibility in nurturing the church and leading her to fulfill its given mission.

RL: The ministry to our members is what it’s all about, but at the same time, there are areas that we have to enter in the world where we don’t have work and we don’t have local pastors. In churches that have a vision of a finished work in the whole world, we don’t have trouble with local resources and we don’t have trouble with resources that are shared. None of us is going home until all of us go home. Although, we all must do what we can locally, I havenever found a church to be weak if it also sees a clear vision of the finished work.

RR: It was outward focus that brought us to where we are. When that focus is limited to within, we see a church that stagnates and doesn’t grow. As my concern is expressed for others beyond my own group, we fi nd a church that is healthy and vibrant. The pastor has an essential role to keep the focus on the worldwide mission of the church.