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Rant: My church kicked me out of the volunteer roster for asking about the budget
Back in 2019 I asked our treasurer at First Baptist in Springfield why we spent $12,000 on new chairs when the youth group was using broken tables. Next thing I know my name was off the sign-up sheet and I got a passive aggressive email about "creating division." I learned that asking simple questions about where money goes can get you labeled as trouble, but I still think transparency matters. Has anyone else gotten the silent treatment for just asking "wait, where did that come from?"
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the_mary25d ago
You hit the nail on the head with "creating division." That's just code for "you saw something we didn't want you to see." Churches hate when regular folks poke around the money because it breaks that whole trust thing they sell you on. Same thing happened to my cousin at her church in Ohio. She asked why they paid the pastor's son for "IT work" and suddenly she was "not a good fit" for the hospitality team anymore. It's always about control, never about the actual answer.
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victor21925d ago
Not a good fit for the hospitality team" is church-speak for "we caught you with a calculator." I tell you what, my own financial record keeping is so bad I'd probably pass any church audit just because nobody could follow my scribbles. But your cousin's story is spot on. Once you start asking where the money goes, they treat you like you're holding a gun to the collection plate instead of just wanting some basic accountability.
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