Church secretary accused of embezzling $1.5 million

[gb93433]

A Southern Baptist church in East Tennessee is considering cutting back on ministries amid reports that a trusted employee of 47 years embezzled more than $1.5 million in church funds.

Source: http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/5188/53/

 

[Mississippi John]

Church secretary gone wild.

WOW !!! She doesn't "look like" a crook. Prayers for all involved.http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/5188/53/

 

[TomVols]

Interesting that ABPress is interested in this since this church is friendly with their group. It's a sad story all the way around. It's not the first time a church in the Knoxville area has had a widow embezzle money from church accounts.

 

[gb93433]

I remember the time when I was the new pastor at a church and asked for an audit of the books and got some interesting remarks until the IRS said I owed some money and my CPA sent them a letter and then the church was under fire.

 

[jaigner]

Sweet mercy, that is amazing.

 

[Jon-Marc]

WOW !!! She doesn't "look like" a crook. Prayers for all involved.http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/5188/53/

What does a crook look like? I have thought of that: We are trusting one person in the church with all that money, and it has to be a temptation for some at least. Still. I've never been part pf a church that had $1.5 million--even over a long period of time.

 

[308 Haverhill]

I wonder how she was able to slip by $50,000 worth of checks for "cash" on a weekly basis without someone catching on before it go to the $1.5 million mark

 

[annsni]

That makes me so grateful for our pastor who's in charge of the finances. He's a CPA by trade and makes sure we're audited each year by an independent firm. Additionally, there are 3 financial people employed by the church and there are so many papers we need to sign to do anything that I'd find it really hard to get anything through without getting caught.

 

[gb93433]

That makes me so grateful for our pastor who's in charge of the finances. He's a CPA by trade and makes sure we're audited each year by an independent firm. Additionally, there are 3 financial people employed by the church and there are so many papers we need to sign to do anything that I'd find it really hard to get anything through without getting caught.

Remember who the BFA was audited by each year too.

 

[canadyjd]

First Baptist Church reportedly filed a civil lawsuit against Whitt to try to stop her from selling any of her property. Grace Baptist Church also has filed a civil lawsuit against Whitt and her son, Michael, who owns a business called Whittco Electric Company housed at her home.

Compounding sinful activity with more.

What's the chances that gambling is involved?

peace to youraying:

 

[HAMel]

Locks are designed to keep honest people from being nosey. Any organization, including churches, should have checks and balances in place to curb the opportunity to steal. At least have term limits if possible for all elected/appointed positions.

I wonder if there were any others in the church that benefited from her actions?

 

[drfuss]

Locks are designed to keep honest people from being nosey. Any organization, including churches, should have checks and balances in place to curb the opportunity to steal. At least have term limits if possible for all elected/appointed positions. Should this include pastors also? If so, how long should the pastor's term be?

I wonder if there were any others in the church that benefited from her actions?

See bold type above.

 

[rbell]

Granted, making it impossible to steal is very, very difficult.

But our church makes it so difficult to do so (especially in this area--regarding embezzlement) so as to make it not worth the effort. This is why at our church checks & balances are in place--not to mention things like making checks out to "cash" simply isn't allowed. Ever.


Praying for this church...stuff like this hurts the body, tempts folks to gossip/backbite, and emboldens skeptics and folks looking to bash the church, or looking for excuses.

 

[HAMel]

drfuss, it would appear you've taken my intent and twisted it a bit, apparently just to be adversarial. You ask,

Should this include pastors also? If so, how long should the pastor's term be?

To begin with, I've never belonged to a church where the pastor counted the money; second, the Lord puts his men where he wants them and shame on any church that runs one off prematurely or otherwise established a specified term;

I have been attending church since 1972 (which is when I asked the Lord to save me) and over the many years I've come to realize that some of the most vicious people in the world are often members of Baptist Churches.

My wife and I attended a church affiliated with the SBC for five years. Each and every business meeting turned into a war zone due to all the special interests. Things got so bad that people started dying. We left.

The Lord is long suffering as shown in, Lam 3:32, But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

All too often members of Baptist Churches have absolutely no compassion and from the topic of this thread, this woman had no compassion at all.

Members of Baptist Churches are their own worst enemies and never seem to see it. All too often though they sit back and point the fingers at the rest of the world.

...should the pastor have a term limit? I suppose that if he's a thief, or a womanizer, or prays the rosary, then perhaps a Term Limit would work. Otherwise, what a silly question you ask.

 

[mcdirector]

so sad for the church . . .

 

[drfuss]

"drfuss, it would appear you've taken my intent and twisted it a bit, apparently just to be adversarial. You ask,

Should this include pastors also? If so, how long should the pastor's term be?"


WOW!! HAMel, I didn't intend to offend you. You said "all elected/appointed positions". Since the position of pastor is an elected position in most Baptist churches, I only wanted to know if that included pastors. A simple no answer would have been sufficient, if that was your answer.

 

[HAMel]

drfuss, many years ago I was the "Head" of a large organization. When I finally resigned I had mentioned to this organizations Secretary to make sure the locks were changed on the door.

One of my loyal followers jumped up and said, "We don't need to change the locks..., we trust you". My response was, "The locks need to be changed so as to protect me".

This woman who stole 1.5 Million was a Judas Iscariotette in the flesh. She took advantage of her longevity and abused the trust placed in her by the church membership. For sure she is the one offended right now!

Just as the locks were changed for "my" protection a church should be concerned about "removing" the temptation to steal by those who count the money. Perhaps a rotation of this responsibility is a good thing.