ON ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY

(To our church family in Victory BGC)

With the recent Senate hearings because of the ghost government projects, the other night, I was asked by a faithful and long time church member in Victory BGC about how the church pursues accountability and transparency. This is a remarkably valid question because we know that in the past, there have been non profit organizations and even churches here and abroad that have been placed in question due to their financial integrity.

In Victory, we lead as a team. No one pastor makes isolated or independent decisions related to finances that are not checked by others. While no church or organization is perfect or without fault, our goal is to maintain integrity and our witness to the world. And it has happened in the past that staff and pastors who have violated financial standards and policies have been let go of and were required restitution for their actions. Rest assured, we have employed principles of restoration to trust God in the whole process.

As a church member, if you ever see any inconsistency, any concerning practice, or even any hint of financial impropriety in our church, please don’t hesitate to email me at paolo@victorybgc.church.. We’re in this together and your voice matters.

That being said, here's my answer to our church member.

1. INTERNAL AUDIT

We have internal audits that we perform regularly so that we can uphold our churches and ministry units to the highest financial standards.

This is done year round.

2. EXTERNAL AUDIT

Since 1998, we have had several external auditors that include RFG and currently Deloitte. Deloitte is one of what the accounting world calls as the Big 4 firms in this arena. Deloitte give their services to companies like Microsoft, Boeing, UPS, IBM, Ayala, BPI and Globe.

By the grace of God, for the past years, we have been given an "unqualified remark" - the highest rating any organization or company can get. To the non-accountants like me, this means everything is clean and above board.

Again, by the grace of God, this past year, together with a Japanese company, we were the only ones to get this unqualified remark.

3. BENCHMARKING SERVICES

Willis Towers Watson is a global company that operates in more than 140 countries and serve 89% of Fortune 1000 companies.

We have employed their services to help us with compensation and benefits benchmarking services. They do salary surveys, industry specific data, job-level insights and custom analytics to help us bench mark compensation of our staff.

They serve non profits like World Vision and Salvation Army. And also companies like Nestle, P&G, Manulife and plus many more.

4. PCEC

We are a member of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches. It is a national alliance of evangelical denominations and organizations in the Philippines of which Bishop Manny Carlos is a board member.

Because we are part of this network of churches, there are clear qualifications for membership and built-in accountability structures to ensure integrity and unity among its member churches and ministries.

5. ECFA

ECFA or the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability is a US-based accreditation organization that helps Christian churches and ministries uphold high standards of financial integrity, transparency and ethical fundraising practices.

Victory is a part of Every Nation which is a global family of churches. Every Nation has held that accreditation since December 31, 2007, which means they've maintained ECFA standards for nearly two decades.

6. ULTIMATE ACCOUNTING

Hebrews 4:13 says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

Time will come that we all will face our King and Judge to whom we will give an account for everything we have done, thought and said.

Because of this, every peso matters. It matters because every church member gives, sacrifices, offers and worships through their finances. It is then God's money, not ours.

God has called us to be good stewards of the resources He gives us. Hebrews 4:13 reminds us that no matter how strict human audits are, the ultimate audit is God's. That truth puts the fear of God in our hearts. May we all honor Him with our lives, calling and resources. May we all be found faithful.