Spending God's Money

by Mary Kinney Branson

Overview

What’s Happened to Our Contributions? A hundred years ago, collective giving seemed the perfect solution. What one individual or church couldn’t do, combined efforts accomplished with ease. National agencies sprung up, offering to spend on our behalf. And we embraced them.
Flash forward to days crammed with emails, overtime, and endless commuting. Time is often more valuable than money, and the desire to delegate spiritual privileges and responsibilities is even stronger. Surely national agencies—and the professionals who oversee them—can carry out the Great Commission faster and more effectively than harried homemakers and stressed executives.
But as our time shrinks, national ministries grow larger. What started as lean groups of roll-up-your-sleeves workers have become Paul Bunyan-sized agencies, with excess fat and an overload of middle men draining a big chunk of the money intended for spreading the gospel. Elaborate national headquarters have shot up across America, with presidential office suites rivaling those of top CEOs.
And giving isn’ t the same. Sending a check to a faceless organization doesn’ t generate the same fulfillment as pressing money into the hand of a young person heading for the mission field. Now the only smiling faces are those of mega leaders. And recently, their smiles have been fading as disenchanted givers voice their displeasure with irresponsible spending.
The author of this on-the-edge book proposes an answer. After opening readers’ eyes to the tremendous waste of their hard-earned dollars, she offers ways to bring joy and effectiveness back into giving.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940011313769
Publisher:	Father's Press
Publication date:	04/15/2011
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Mary Kinney Branson is the former editing director for the Home Mission Board and former marketing director for the North American Mission Board (agencies of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination). During the 16 years she served in these two positions, she observed many dedicated workers who operated with financial integrity. But she also observed leaders who misused millions of dollars in contributors’ money. The extravagance and misuse she witnessed were the basis for her 17th book, SPENDING GOD’S MONEY, published January 2007 by Father’s Press.

SPENDING GOD’S MONEY is an insider’s look at how money can be wasted if a religious organization lacks constant scrutiny and total financial disclosure. It will open the reader’s eyes to the dangers of giving blindly to large faceless agencies.

But this book goes a step farther. It offers a plan to take giving back to the effective, fulfilling worship experience God created it to be.

“I’m not a theologian, and I’m not particularly political,” states the book’s author. “But I believe I was placed at NAMB ‘for such a time as this.’

“Most NAMB staff were required to sign a waiver—a gag order of sorts—when they left. I was a director—the level just under a VP—and I left under positive circumstances. I was one of the few who wasn’t asked to sign the waiver, and I was a professional writer. All this placed me in a unique position.”

Mary Branson did her undergraduate work at Indiana University and graduate work at Georgia State University. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Jack. They have two children and two grandchildren.