Dan Hotchkiss is a Senior Consultant at the Alban Institute. This Web resource is based on an essay he wrote for the book, www.congregationalresources.org, published by Alban in 2004. A print-ready version is available by clicking on the link at the bottom of the left-hand menu. (You'll need to have installed the free download, Adobe Acrobat.)

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Introduction

At least since Moses smashed the golden calf, the borderland between the realms of faith and money has not been an altogether comfortable place to live. Religious leaders know that mammon still competes with God for the loyalty of even the most devout.

At the same time, religious institutions need money for virtually all of their activities. Spiritual exercises require space, preferably quiet space whose landscaping, architecture, and acoustics favor and support inward deepening, joyous celebration, and an inspiring sense of wide connection. Such spaces are increasingly expensive. So are the services of clergy and other workers.

Religious leaders' dual relationship with money—as bearers of the message that "the love of money" (in Paul's phrase) can distract the faithful from what is most important and as fundraisers for their own, presumably good, causes—puts churches and synagogues at risk of being, or of seeming to be, hypocritical. Especially in a culture that hawks consumer goods from street corners while keeping personal finances in the closet, it is easy for a congregation to say nothing to its members about money except "give us some of yours." It is dissatisfaction over this dual relationship of faith to money that motivates much of the recent surge of writing on the subject.