“The title instantly jumps out: ‘$EED or GR€€D? The Book Most Pastors Want You to Read!’” writes Nik Simon in the New Zealand Herald. “It sits at the top of former All Black Salesi Tu’ipulotu ‘Charles’ Piutau’s book collection in his Belfast apartment, next to ‘An Intensive Course in Tongan’ and a collection of other Read more
Given that he was a member of the famously ascetic Franciscan order with his own reputation for detachment from worldly things, Bernardine of Siena (1380–1444) was remarkably insightful about money. Most people are understandably surprised to learn that some of the important intellectual developments that first enabled finance to become an engine of growth were Read more
Destiny Church leader Bishop Brian Tamaki has caused a stir in social media with a tweet referring to both Jesus and money. On March 23, Bishop Tamaki put out the following tweet. “Jesus spoke to a tree/fish/wind/water [a]nd other things … i spoke to a $100 bill early in my life [a]nd said ‘you [a]nd Read more
As anyone who paid attention in history class knows, when Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés landed in what’s now Mexico in 1519, he promptly scuttled his ships, thereby leaving his men no choice but to press on in conquest of the Aztec empire. For centuries, that rash act has loomed as an object lesson in total Read more
This week, Forbes released its annual top celebrities list, The Celebrity 100. Quite simply, the list measures, as Forbes shamelessly puts it, “money and fame”. Calculating the in-crowd includes looking at earnings over the past year, as well as “media and social networking power”. One gets the sense that we are encouraged to idolize these people. Read more
The Holy See has said it will co-operate fully with a fraud and corruption investigation into the money-smuggling activities of a senior cleric who headed the office that oversees Vatican property and investments. Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was arrested on a charge of attempting to smuggle €20 million ($NZ33.5 million) into Italy illegally. He was already Read more
The Congregational Christian Church of Samoa, (EFFKS), plans to establish a loan firm, then eventually, a commercial bank. According to General Secretary, Reverend Dr Iutisone Salevao, the proposed bank will be funded from the church’s To’omaga Fund, a fund which already exists to provide financial assistance to parishes. “The fund is close to ten million tala at the moment Read more
A new church in Samoa built for $12 Million and millions were reportedly spent setting up a Christian television service. Where do the churches get the money from in a struggling developing country? A recent survey found 97% of all households reported giving church donations, taking 17.1% of household income, but some families report giving Read more
The Church isn’t a business but without money there can be no mission, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane has said in a message to his diocese. Introducing a new approach to archdiocesan fundraising, he said some of the strategies that worked well in the past no longer work as well as they did. “Therefore, we Read more