Churches learn to take care of business
Classes aim to keep the Lord's work on a professional track

The globe-trotting priest from Connecticut drove a Jaguar, shopped at Bergdorf Goodman and bought jewelry from Cartier, all of it with money stolen from his church's coffers. By the time the parish finance council in Connecticut caught on, he had embezzled $1.3 million.

Many U.S. churches have been victims of embezzlement over the years, reflecting not just moral weakness by wrongdoers but lax financial controls. Often, church budgets are overseen by volunteers or employees with little guidance or professional training.

Now, some Catholic colleges hope to prevent such faith-shattering abuses by offering programs devoted specifically to managing church finances and personnel.

They join a growing number of other denominational colleges and seminaries who offer such training, among them Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

"This is simply taking common business principles from the secular world and putting them to work in the church," said Bob Welch, Southwestern's dean of educational ministries and a professor of administration.

Financial managers

Besides preaching, teaching and counseling, "the pastor needs to be a financial manager," Welch said. "When students walk out of our doors and become a pastor, they're it. Some of them have to learn by the seat of their pants. It doesn't surprise me that pastors get into financial trouble simply because they don't know what's right."

The Rev. Frank McGrath, the new pastor at victimized St. John Roman Catholic Church in Darien, Conn., said pastors should receive some administrative training, either at seminaries or from the diocese after being ordained.

A private detective hired in 2006 to investigate McGrath's big-spending predecessor, the Rev. Michael Jude Fay, found that he had secret bank accounts and flagrantly abused church credit cards. Fay is set to report to federal prison in April to begin serving more than three years.

Among Catholic institutions beginning to focus on church administration are Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and Boston College, which started programs in September; and Villanova University outside Philadelphia is offering an online master's degree in church management beginning this summer.

Expertise needed

The concept is becoming more popular despite some among the faithful who bristle at the notion of the church as a business, said Kerry Robinson, executive director of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, a Roman Catholic group.

"In larger churches, it's pretty common to almost have a chief financial officer position, a person that may not have a seminary degree or theological background but is a believer and has an M.B.A. and experience," said Mark Yarbrough, executive director of communications at Dallas Theological Seminary.

In Richardson, the National Association of Church Business Administration offers a certification program for clergy and lay people of more than 60 faith groups, said Phill Martin, deputy chief executive officer. The organization formed in 1956 and began offering certification in the mid-1980s.

More than 600 of the group's 3,100-plus members have been certified by one of six centers across the country. The process requires four weeks of training, experience in the field and working on a project such as developing policy or overseeing land or personnel issues, he said.

Better financial controls might have led to an earlier uncovering of the priest sexual-abuse scandal, said Charles Zech, director of Villanova's Center for the Study of Church Management. Numerous financial red flags were missed as dioceses and archdioceses quietly settled with victims and paid for treatment for priests.

Terry Lee Goodrich contributed to this report.

Survey results

More than 60 Catholic dioceses responding to a Villanova University survey reported embezzlements within the past five years, at least one-third of the nation's dioceses. About a half-dozen of the dioceses that responded reported thefts of more than $500,000.

Just last year, The Associated Press found reports of more than 20 Catholic and Protestant churches in 17 states dealing with embezzlement cases. The cases included clergy or church employees who were charged with, sentenced for or convicted of embezzlement or who had pleaded guilty to stealing religious funds.

Metroplex efforts

Some seminaries and denominations in the Fort Worth-Dallas area promote administrative and financial training to accompany classes in theology and pastoral care.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth has offered classes in church administration since the 1950s, including online classes in the past five years, said Bob Welch, dean of educational ministries and professor of administration.

Southwestern is the only seminary in the country that offers a Ph.D. in church administration, he said.

Training includes financial management, budgeting, handling personnel issues and record-keeping.

Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas offers about 10 classes in church administration, with subjects including conflict management, financial matters and legal issues, said Mark Yarbrough executive director of communications.

Brite Divinity School at Fort Worth's Texas Christian University does not offer financial management. However, required courses in its basic ministry programs address issues of fiscal responsibility, said Newell Williams, Brite's president. An introductory course focuses on financial vulnerability "both personal and congregational," he said.

Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas for several years has offered elective classes in church administration in its degree programs. It also offers continuing education for clergy, said Gary MacDonald, director of advanced ministerial studies. Recently, the Internal Revenue Service conducted a workshop for Perkins students on tax issues and fundamentals of accounting. "We aren't trying to turn students into accountants, but there's so much a clergyperson needs to study," MacDonald said. "Along with theology and pastoral care, church administration needs to be part of that."