Churches, Pastors, and Love Offerings
Pastors and ministers of religious institutions have come under increased scrutiny relating to cash practices, and the proper accounting as well as reporting required for each. There was a Pastor of a good Church in the mid-Atlantic region. The Church paid its obligations promptly each month. To look at it from the outside looking in, everything seemed fine. The un-manifested problem however was the Pastor. He felt as if the Church failed to properly support him (though it arguably did, based on the size and income of the ministry). He decided the best way to supplement his income encompassed receiving “Love Offerings” each week that would be earmarked as such. This Pastor began to remove the cash from the offerings. If any individual wrote a check for that “Love Offering” the Pastor would simply remove that amount of cash from the collection, thereby leaving the check to be deposited to the Church’s account. One of the Elders approached the Pastor in love and expressed his concern for...