In Depth:  money

Paul Houghton

Misunderstandings and compliance issues have strained the relationship between churches and banks.

Let's delve into the most critical concerns: financial crime exposure and the need for better understanding and communication.

Paul Houghton

Despite perceptions of persecution discussed in our last article, the real reasons behind churches being de-banked* are more likely to be rooted in regulatory and risk management issues.

Money laundering and terrorism finance will rarely be discussed in church trustee or PCC meetings. However, they now dominate the mandatory account due diligence processes undertaken by UK banks in the 2020s. While being utterly alien to churches, it is these behind-the-scenes processes which are driving a swathe of the banks’ programme of account closures.

Paul Houghton

Churches have become increasingly wary of big banks.

I attended several Christian conferences last year, and, at each one, someone raised concerns about de-banking (the closure of a person or organisation’s bank account by a bank that perceives them to pose a risk to the bank).

The government’s controversial raising of student tuition fees will put increased on the finances for students. Here is some solid advice.

Josh Moody

I wonder how many EN readers will recognise that as a quote from the Bible? Ecclesiastes 10.19 'Money is the answer to everything'. While there may be much that British evangelicals would wish to feel that they have to teach their American cousins about, for instance, the integration of the mind and faith or maintaining the purity of the church, in this matter, American evangelicals seem to be far more comfortable with the plain reality of life which the Bible here acknowledges.

If you want something done, it's going to cost money. If you want to hire someone to do a good job it will cost money. American evangelicals on the whole tend to have much more of the attitude that 'you get what you pay for'. They want a healthy, growing church; and they know that one component of that is a godly, Bible teaching pastor, and so they intend to find money to pay for one.