Duty of Systematic Benevolence Treasurers by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 13, 1873

Duty of Systematic Benevolence Treasurers.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

State Conferences, State Secretaries, and ministers who labor in the churches, are constantly annoyed by the slack and disorderly manner in which many S. B. treasurers do their business. It often becomes difficult, if not impossible, to tell anything about the financial condition of the church or the Conference. A large amount of funds is lost every year on this account. I think many of our brethren who are chosen S. B. treasurers labor under a false impression as to their duty in the matter. They do not consider it their duty to make any effort to have the brethren pay up their pledges at the proper time, by reminding them of the expiration of each quarter and asking them personally for what they have solemnly pledged to give to the Lord.

The matter is suffered to run on month after month, quarter after quarter, and sometimes even a whole year or more without any effort being made by the treasurer to have the pledges paid up. Some get so far behind that they become discouraged and finally never pay at all, whereas, if they had been reminded of it and asked for it at the proper time they would have paid it. Then, having no money on hand at the end of a quarter, the treasurer does not report to the State treasurer, and so every thing is left to go in confusion.

Now I would like to offer a few suggestions on this subject.

1. Care should be used in selecting the most proper person in the church for treasurer. If he is careless and disorderly in doing his own business, he will be sure to be the same and more so in the Lord's business. If he does not pay his own pledges when due, he will not ask others for theirs. Hence, those who are the most prompt and orderly in their own business should be selected for this office.

2. They should be immediately provided with proper books, &c., and thoroughly instructed how to keep these books, make their reports, &c. This should be done by those who organize the churches or visit them after they are organized. The minister who can not, or does not, do this is not fit to labor in the churches. Yet I frequently find church treasurers and clerks who have no idea of the duties of their offices or how to perform them, having never been instructed in them.

3. If a man is chosen to do the business and to see to the financial affairs of men, does he not feel responsible to have that business properly attended to? Would he not be blamed if he neglected it? Why should not a man feel as much responsibility when intrusted with the Lord's business? He certainly should. Hence it is his duty, each quarter, to see those who have pledged, and ask them for it. Of course this must be done in a proper manner, not as demanding or commanding, but as reminding of their pledges and the necessity of paying them when due.

4. The treasurer should report to both the State treasurer and secretary at the beginning of each quarter, viz., Jan. 1, April 1, July 1, and Oct. 1, whether he has any money to send or not. This, some do not seem to know. At least, as every State secretary will testify, there is great difficulty and irregularity in obtaining quarterly reports from the church treasurers. There are several causes for this: (1) The treasurer, not having his mind specially charged with it, forgets to report till the time is past. (2) Sometimes he does not remember when the quarter does end. (3) Sometimes they either fail to get proper blanks for reports, or lose them after they have received them. (4) Having no money to send, they think they will wait a little longer, till they do have, and so put it off weeks. (5) Sometimes they forget to whom to send, or where to send.

Now it appears to me that a better plan would be to supply the State secretary with all the proper blank reports, with the address of each church treasurer. Then, about two weeks before the expiration of each quarter, let him fill out a blank as far as he can with date, address, &c., enclosed in an open envelope, addressed to himself. Send one of these to each treasurer, to be filled out and returned immediately. This, with little trouble to the secretary, much less than he will otherwise inevitably have, would be quite certain to insure a prompt and correct report from every church each quarter. I simply suggest the plan.

Systematic Benevolence should be just what the name signifies. If it is a good thing, a system which God has ordained and blessed, let us all take an interest in carrying it out. But systematic benevolence can not be carried out disorderly. Those in the different churches who are intrusted with the care of this important branch of the work, should feel themselves under responsibility to God and to their brethren to do their utmost to have this plan correctly and systematically carried out. "Not slothful in business," is a divine precept, which some of our S. B. treasurers would do well to meditate on, at least once a quarter. D. M. CANRIGHT.