[veraburrell]

Should the Pastor and his family members handle the church finances?

[donf]

I can't speak for other churches, but in the Catholic Church I belonged to in Kentucky, we had elected and appointed of the laity to serve on committees for that stuff.

In fact I was chair of the finance committee. It was my job to develop the upcoming budget for the next year, hold quarterly meeting with the full committee as to how we were doing with respect of the current budget. And I was also responsible for the end of year budget reconciliation of the budget and submission of the final summary up to our Diocesan center.

The priest attended every one of the meetings and he had the ultimate say on expenditures, however the rule was major expenses, full approval before submitting to the Bishop for final approval.

[excon]

Hello vera:

If they're good at it, why not?

excon

[ebaines]

For all nonprofit organizations there should be absolute transparency of finances. It doesn't matter who "handles" the finances so much as what the oversight structure for the financial anagement is. There must be an oversight committee that sets policies, defines fprocedures, and has the authority to review all financial transactions. It is also highly recommended that the finances be audited by an independent professional auditor each year - I know many churches don't bother with this, but IMO it's necessary to avoid situations such as a having a "control happy" pastor from running wild with the church's assets.