Author: Nigel Ring

This is the concluding part of the series on Finance. I am grateful to Stephen Mathews of Stewardship for writing this for me and hope that churches, in particular, will improve their practices as a result.   The issue In our churches administration can be like housework – only thought about when it is not done. To Paul it was much more than that. It was: A ‘gift’ alongside those of apostles and prophets (1 Corinthians 12) An action which “honours the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8) Respect for authorities (Romans 13) Every week at Stewardship we see churches with failures in financial administration; some are minor, but some are major which result in pain and real cost. In those cases the church is like a ‘leaky bucket’, allowing funds to…

The issue The apostle Paul considered financial accountability to be very important as shown in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Whilst still focussed on mission he was very keen:   To avoid criticism about the handling of giving To be seen to do “what is right in the eyes of man as well as God” 2,000 years later Billy Graham thought the same; he told his team “the very first on the list (of his priorities) was to maintain financial integrity”. Charities are rightly coming under increasing financial scrutiny. Recent events at Kids Company and other charities have thrown a spotlight on charity finances. With the wisdom of Paul and the warning from others it is right we aim for the highest standards in our churches. The ingredients The key ingredients in…

The issue Billy Graham once said that a person’s wallet is the truest statement of his theology. Even if only partially true, what churches say and do about money is always an important sign of what is valued. The New Testament has much to say about money and possessions. Two chapters of 2 Corinthians are devoted to the issue; but interestingly never use the word ‘money’; the currency is not dollars or sterling but ‘grace’. Paul’s starting point is 'rich generosity' with a fascinating equation (severe trial, joy and extreme poverty are not normally among an accountant’s 'search categories'). This is about the ‘heart’ attitude (see part 1 of this series) as key to the wallet. Ingredient 1: discipleship in money Jesus speaks about: Our inability to serve two masters One’s life not…

Experience Stephen Mathews writes: My role in Stewardship is an interesting, but sometimes, a sad one. I am involved with churches (leaders, trustees and treasurers), with regulators (HMRC and the Charity Commission) and sometimes with the media. Why can this be sad? Because so often it is dealing with: Individual churches having really messy problems The church in general struggling with generic money issues Statistics which show a lack of Christian teaching about money Comments from regulators such as “we have a great problem with the UK church” In this third part of the series I want to explain what goes wrong when we don’t address the issues of money in our churches. Weak in 'Attitude' When churches don’t address money-discipleship it leaves their members vulnerable to money's ‘love’ which “is a…

The Triple “A” rating Alphabetical ratings have long been used in the financial sector to assess the strength of investments. AAA (better known as Triple “A”) is the highest possible rating indicating financial strength. At Stewardship, we have taken the concept of the Triple “A” rating and applied it to churches. Here it is not a measure of financial strength but is shorthand for three attributes important for churches and church leaders to live by when it comes to handling money. The three A’s stand for: Attitude Accountability Administration This is not something that we have simply dreamt up; the basis for the Triple “A” rating can be found primarily in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. 2 Corinthians 8 Attitude In 2 Cor 8:2 the attitude of the Macedonian church is…