Some areas a church’s “ethics commission” may need to rule on…
–If a minister leads a group from the church on a trip to Israel, is it acceptable for him to receive a commission (often amounting to several hundred dollars per person) from the host company? (I’ve known pastors to lead several such groups a year and reap a substantial amount of money, all of it unknown to their congregation who looked upon this as part of his ministry.)
–If a pastor or anyone on the church staff receives gifts of money ‘under the table” (i.e., unseen by anyone) from church members, should he report this to anyone (the personnel committee, finance committee, administrative committee, pastor support team, etc.)? If not, should the matter at least be discussed by the ethics commission?
–Is the church’s oversight team (by whatever name it goes by) aware that ministers receive a housing allowance from the church? And that this is deductible from his federal taxes? Do they need to know this? Should they be apprised of this each time new members join the committee? (The local CPA who does the ministers’ taxes should be aware of the rulings on this and help the pastor do the responsible thing.)
–When a minister is appointed to some agency of the denomination and is asked to make periodic visits to a distant city for board meetings, will his expenses be picked up by that agency? Or will the church be expected to pay his way? (I’ve known ministers who charged the church for their travel while at the same time the agency was reimbursing them for expenses. Even if he doesn’t go to jail, the minister loses all credibility and should be fired.)
–When a minister on the church staff attends a conference and purchases materials, how will he be reimbursed? And are there safeguards to make sure the amount he is given is exact? (I’ve known unscrupulous ministers to find ways to double-deal.)
–Does an ethics committee (by whatever name) need to know how much the ministers receive in outside income? Preachers usually get paid for doing weddings and funerals, and also from leading revivals in other churches. If they publish books and market them to their members, are there ethical issues there?
When our Lord was on trial before the high priest, the old man said, “Tell us what you’ve been preaching to these people?” Jesus answered, “You may ask anyone who heard me. I’ve had no secrets” (John 18:20).
Let the same be said of us.
This article originally appeared here.
