The Sunday Mail
Malvin Chidzonga
Of late, there has been a lot of talk in the public fora by economic commentators and any other person who has a platform to air out views to be only confined to lamenting the state of high recurrent expenditure.
According to our national budget, it currently stands at 92 percent and many feel that this is too high.
Most civil servants are already earning sub-standard salaries with a need for an increase and reducing their remuneration packages is not an option. Reducing the staff compliment is also not a good option as the nation has a huge deficit in the provision and access of public goods and services such as roads, health care and education. It is against this background that we find the Christian community besieged with a debate on where the money the church collects should be distributed.
Particular attack is on pastors and other church leaders whom I feel are being treated unfairly as most of them get very modest rewards for their work and the income seems to be deteriorating by each month. It is said that while the Ottoman Turks were breaching the walls of Constantinople, the capital city of the Roman Empire in May 1453, the people were inside debating a theological issue.
The question was this; ”If a fly lands in holy water, does the fly make the water unholy, or does the water make the fly holy?”
Meanwhile, the Turks invaded and overthrew the city of Constantinople disrobing, pillaging, killing, raping, taking captive men, women, children, old men, young men, monks, priests, people of all sorts and conditions. One fact that is historically true is that The Church of Holy Wisdom that had stood for 916 years was soon converted into a mosque.
Churches and their members need to desist from majoring in minor things and minoring in major things. When your house is on fire, you do not go out searching for a mouse trap, you douse the fires or you just go out running. There should be less attack on church leaders and pastors on how these meagre financial resources are distributed. Instead, priority should be given to enlarging the financial cake for the church and its members.
With such a microscopic eye on church finances, church leaders and members need to look at church finances with a clear view and prioritise accordingly. Key factors such as book keeping, good governance, church projects, fundraising, banking, internal and external audit have to be given their due importance.
I once attended a church service where the senior pastor presented audited financial statements on a large screen for the view of the congregation with an option of getting a hard-printed copy after the service. Such an example is noteworthy as it subscribes to the tenets of good governance which are transparency and accountability.
This removes doubt, suspicion and misconception from church members.
Churches in Zimbabwe can emulate churches beyond our borders in their operations. Some churches in other countries share infrastructure so as to reduce their expenses. If you look at some church infrastructure, it has turned into white elephants because of not being utilised fully.
I do not know if it is irrational exuberance or lack of forecasting skills, but I have seen one such church infrastructure which can accommodate several denominations as the said church founders or builders have failed to grow as a congregation to fill up the whole space.
If football clubs in Europe such as Lazio and AS Roma which are listed on stock exchanges coupled with diversified funding models and AC Milan and Inter Milan who have great sponsorship and wealthy owners can share infrastructure, I do not see a reason why some churches shy away from sharing such facilities. Local churches can also play their roles financially at a national level. For example, the Orthodox Church in Cyprus considered giving a loan to their government as part of a bail-out plan to the European island nation as it went through a financial crisis.
The churches in Fiji also played a crucial role in the economic development of their country. The church should also educate the nation extensively on financial issues with the backing of the Bible.
In Mecca and Jerusalem, they have perfected religious tourism through pilgrims who visit these places bringing a lot of foreign currency for their respective nations.
Just think of the Bernard Mzeki Mission and its religious site which can draw many pilgrims. Churches beyond our borders are so serious with their finances that the church of England once advertised for a vacancy for an actuary in The Actuary magazine.
The Church Commission held investments valued at some 5.3 billion pounds spread amongst a wide range of UK and overseas securities, commercial, residential and rural property.
The purpose of the fund were to meet the costs of the clergy pensions and to provide a suitable level of support for parishes, bishops, cathedrals among other purposes.
Their fund thus combined the features of a fund providing pensions with those of an endowed charitable fund. The Commission adopted actuarial methods in assessing the position of their fund and full valuations are carried out triennially. The fund invested in venture capitalists, Accel Partners, which in turn raised funds for companies who in turn employ many people. Look at the property investments done by international Churches, there are enormous.
Our local churches need to learn from these international churches who take their finances seriously and implement any initiatives with vigour.
