About this course
Assuring Financial Integrity is one of the online training courses in the Lewis Center’s Keeping Our Sacred Trust series addressing ethical boundaries in ministry. It explores what it means for church leaders, clergy, and lay, to maintain trust and transparency in giving and congregational finance matters. The course is designed to help prevent fraud or financial misconduct by: 1) sharing a vision for financial integrity as a sacred trust shaped by the Christian imperative of stewardship, 2) outlining best practices for maintaining financial integrity, and 3) providing an overview of issues to be considered if financial impropriety occurs.
The course is intended for any church leader, clergy or lay, with responsibility for handling any aspect of congregational finances, including pastors, church staff, seminarians, finance committee members, church treasurers, financial secretaries, counters or tellers, bookkeepers, church secretaries, or any others with responsibility for handling church funds.
This course is presented on a custom-designed web platform that integrates written content, video instruction, individual reflection, and a final quiz. Students can do the work at their own pace. Upon satisfactory completion of course requirements, enrollees receive continuing education certificates issued by the Lewis Center.
If a group is paying some or all of that cost, you will enroll using a discount code that should have been provided by your group. Passing the course requires a score of 80% on the final quiz. Upon successful completion of the course, a certificate of completion bearing .5 units of continuing education credit will be emailed to you.
Assuring Financial Integrity is organized into three main parts addressing:
Managing Church Finances as a Sacred Trust. This section of the course examines financial integrity as a spiritual and theological imperative shaped by a biblical understanding of money and our Christian responsibility as stewards.
Best Practices for Financial Integrity. This section of the course looks at three components of maintaining financial integrity: 1) the roles and responsibilities of key leaders; 2) essential procedural safeguards; and 3) the importance of transparency in maintaining financial integrity.
Responding to Financial Impropriety. This section share information on what a church should do if misconduct occurs, including how to communicate about problems and deal with the fallout.