Financial Transparency

In a Congregational Church, all members are executive members. This means that, apart from taking part in decision making, they should ultimately be in a position to possess full knowledge of the Church's finances, in at least three ways:

• They should be informed of every Church deed, contract, account, etc.
• They should have prompt access to bank statements and investment accounts
• They should have prompt access to the Church's audit and accounts ledger

This is simply "so obvious", where members are executive members. They may have access to such documents in the presence of trustees, there may even be conditions attached, but the point is understood: there will be full transparency, because of members' executive status. Take away any one of these privileges, and one has to worry: why access is compromised, what lies behind the veil, and is the Church truly governed by its members? They must have access to original documents. My own Congregational Churches' constitutions had and have a radical wording: "All Office-Bearers are Members, and the Members exercise their authority ..." etc.