Jim Swedenburg can’t remember the last time a month went by that he didn’t hear at least one report of an Alabama Baptist church dealing with a significant misappropriation of money.

“And if we’re hearing about one, there’s probably nine others we aren’t hearing about because they are handled locally,” said Swedenburg, director of the office of Cooperative Program and stewardship development for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.

Recent survey

LifeWay Research backs up his sentiment — according to a new survey, about 1 in 10 Protestant churches nationally has had someone embezzle funds. A smaller study done in Kansas and Missouri five years ago found similar data — 13.4 percent of churches had seen embezzlement or another type of fraud happen. (continued…)

Read the full story from The Alabama Baptist newspaper – http://www.thealabamabaptist.org/churches-can-help-prevent-mishandling-of-money/