Stewardship and Finance

Saturday, 3rd November 2007

I used to be the Honorary Treasurer of my church. As Treasurer, I was automatically also a member of the Local Church Executive Committee ("LCEC") (the equivalent of the Board of Directors), as well as the Stewardship & Finance Committee.

It is interesting to note that the committee that oversees the finances of my church is known as the "stewardship & finance" committee, rather than just "finance" committee. This is because the function is primarily that of stewardship. After all, whatever financial resources that the church is entrusted to handle belongs to God and not to any individual member.

I happen to work in a German company that is listed on both the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB® Frankfurter Wertpapierbörseas) as well as the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). Being a company listed on an American stock exchange means having to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("SOX"). This Act came about to restore investor confidence as a result of the Enron and WorldCom debacles.

Even here in Singapore, corporate governance has become a very hot topic, especially where and when public funds are involved. Charitable and non-profit organisations have now also come under scrutiny, especially after what happened at National Kidney Foundation ("NKF").

Just last week, the folllowing article appeared in the local media:

7 large charities to have their governance reviewed
Tue, Oct 23, 2007

The Commissioner of Charities (COC) has taken the first step to conduct the governance review of charities, starting with some of the largest welfare bodies.

He has appointed Ernst & Young Associates and Deloitte & Touche Financial Advisory Services to conduct the review of the first seven large charities under his direct purview, the COC's office said in a press release on Tuesday.

The seven are :-
1. Campus Crusade Asia,
2. City Harvest Church,
3. Faith Community Baptist Church,
4. Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery,
5. Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple,
6. New Creation Church, and
7. Trinity Christian Centre.

These charities have a total annual income which exceeds $10 million a year.

The COC's office met up with these large charities individually, to kick-off the governance review.

The charities welcome the governance review as they view this as a regular 'health check' on their organisation, which will help them identify potential areas for improvement in the areas of corporate governance, internal controls and compliance with regulatory rules, the COC office said.

'Several initiatives have been introduced to help develop the governance capability of charities and IPCs since the full-time COC office was set up in September 2006. These include the launch of a $45-million VWO-Charities Capability Fund (VCF) in April 2007, which provides funding to help enhance the governance and management capability in the charity sector,' COC Low Puk Yeong said.

'Charities and IPCs that wish to undertake their own governance review with the help of external consultants, may tap on funding from VCF,' he said.

The Inter-Ministry Committee (IMC) on the Regulation of Charities and Institutions of Public Character (IPCs) has recommended the COC conduct governance reviews on large charities to assess and help improve their standard of corporate governance, financial control and regulatory compliance.

This is the COC's role as part of the regulatory framework of the charity sector.

Sector Administrators, such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and National Council of Social Service, have already conducted the reviews of large charities and IPCs under their respective purview.

Interested charities can visit the charity portal for more information on funding from VCF.

5 of these 7 charities happen to be Christian bodies, and the Straits Times even published their income and membership numbers, where applicable.

Campus Crusade Asia - income S$15m
City Harvest Church - income S$30.9m, membership 23k
Faith Community Baptist Church - income S$27m, membership 10k
New Creation Church - income S$42.8m, membership 16k
Trinity Christian Centre - income S$14.2m, membership 5.5k

What is interesting is that even though City Harvest has a membership of 23k, their income is lower than that of New Creation. One possible explanation is that City Harvest has a larger proportion of youth. Their average income would thus be relatively lesser, hence making the tithes and offerings proportionately smaller.

However, my own conviction as to why New Creation Church's income is so much higher is because its members understand what it means to be totally under grace, and accordingly, their generous giving comes out of that overflow.

God grants favour to His children such that they are placed in a position to be able to give out of their abundance. As we sow bountifully, He allows us to reap even more bountifully.

And that is the essence of stewardship.

Recently, I heard a sermon on the Parable of the Talents. The crux of that parable is not so much about being fearful that God will take away our single talent for singing or playing the piano, for example. Rather, it is about being faithful with the finances that God entrusts to us.

Consider Matt 25:27, "Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest."

If we interpret the word "talent" to mean something other than money, then can we say that we can put our ability to sing or to play the piano in the bank to earn interest?

If you know of such a bank, please let me know. I will be the first to put my golf clubs (the ones that I use but once a year at the Annual NTIUCF Golf Challenge) and my huge collection of 1980s secular music CDs (which I take out only once in a blue moon to listen to) into that bank to earn interest :-)

The trouble with many of us is that when money is specifically mentioned in the Bible, we choose to "over-interpret" it to apply to other things.

The first steward was given 5 talents of money (the NIV makes this very clear in verse 15), and he caused it to multiply to 10. The second steward was given 2 talents of money and he caused it to multiply to 4.

If we want to be in a position to be in stewardship of $5,000 each month, then we must be willing to tithe $500 each month. If a person cannot even be faithful with a S$1,000 monthly salary by tithing $100, then even the little will be taken away by the devil.