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Leaders Crack Down in New York, Leave Financial Questions Unanswered

June, 2003

New York City Church of Christ (NYCCC) leaders in Rockland County, NY responded June 8 to persistent calls for change and financial disclosure by demanding that members submit unconditionally to the elders and local evangelists. In so doing, they effectively banished a local transition team and ended a period of re-examination and member-guided reform. Financial questions pending with the Rockland transition team remained unanswered.

During a worship service of the NYCCC in Rockland County, NYCCC elder Sam Powell and evangelists Steve Kinnard, Steve Johnson, and Phil Garrison condemned “division” in the local church, according to a transcript of the taped service. They said that the open forums and transition committees they had allowed in the church were unbiblical. They characterized pleas from members for financial disclosure as an excuse to divide the church. They implored members to turn away from information about the church on the Internet. They rebuked members for not forgiving leaders. They set themselves up as God’s leaders, and presented a choice to either follow them or go against the Bible.

[Note: this crackdown has thus far been localized to the Rockland County region. At present, there are no public reports that anything similar has happened in other parts of NYCCC. Rockland is the “home church” of NYCCC founder Steve Johnson and longtime ICC “Kingdom Teacher” Steve Kinnard.]

According to the transcript, Powell closed the service by saying:

“I do want to make it very, very clear. This Wednesday night… we’re going to have midweek…

“The only people who need to be there are the people who decided to make Jesus Lord, the Bible their standard, and who are ready to follow Steve Kinnard, Steve Johnson and Phil Garrison as their evangelists. That’s it.”

Sam Powell, Worship Service transcript, West Nyack, NY, June 8, 2003.

This “my way or the highway” approach should be familiar to anyone who has studied the International Churches of Christ’s (ICC’s) history, particularly its handling of the Indianapolis Church of Christ in 1994 when the congregation voted to make changes in its relationship with the ICC. With a movement for reform lingering in many ICC cities, it will be interesting to see if other ICC leaders use the methods of the past to confront the problems of the present.

“These are the questions that we would like to address.”

If Rockland leaders wanted to earn the trust of members, the timing of their crackdown could not have been worse.

One week earlier, the local transition team had asked for a “special review” of NYCCC and ACES World Sector financial transactions, according to published meeting minutes. The stated goal of the special review was to verify the appropriateness of employee reimbursements, special contribution allocation and other transactions. The transcript quotes one of the team members as saying, “This is not to do a witch hunt. Our goal is to bring back the trust in the congregation.” The transition team said they could finish their special review within one day after being given access to the requested information.

When asked what kind of information they wanted, a team member listed the following questions compiled after previous interviews with the NYCCC chief financial officer about church policies and procedures:

Provide actual example/documentation of a “budgeted check request” greater than $50,000 for 2002 and part of 2003.

Provide actual examples/documentation of a “budgeted check request” less than or equal to $50,000 for 2002 and part of 2003.

Under “ministry approval for any expenditure,” what are the controls in place if the evangelist that is authorized to sign is the one making the expenditure request. Describe the dual controls in place.

Clarify “salary advances” and their purpose. Is there a policy related to “salary advances?”

Explain “loans to other ICOC entities.” Provide examples of loans to other ICOC entities given by the NY church.

Clarify and explain all “salary model” for ministry and active staff, i.e. “responsibility adjustment.” Provide documentation if available.

Explain the process for new ministry hires.

Explain expenditure policy related to pre-employee debt for evangelist, ministry personnel, and all others.

Provide actual examples/documentation of expenditure related to “fixed assets” for the past few years.

For personnel who were set up at home, does the church pay for the furniture units and office equipment? If yes, what happens to the equipment when the individual or couple leaves?

Explain authorization and approval policy on educational grants and/or reimbursements given to minister and church employees if applicable.

Explain expense authorization approval policy on special loans and or grants given to ministers and church members if applicable.

Explain expense authorization and approval policy on business trips accompanied by family members.

“These are related to the expense authorization and approval. These are the questions that we would like to address.”

Rockland Transition Team Meeting Minutes, June 1, 2003.

The team also asked Steve Johnson at the meeting if they could get documentation from ACES including samples of his financial reimbursements for the year 2002, in addition to the November 2002 samples they already had. (The ACES board would not release any ACES documentation without Johnson’s approval.) Johnson is quoted as replying, “I’ll have to seek advice… It seems so far that every piece of information I’ve given has created more suspicion towards me.”

Johnson’s answer seemed clear in the disbanding of the transition team and the crackdown message: no further information would be provided to the church while Powell, Kinnard, Johnson and Garrison were in power, and the transition team remained banished.

Ever since ICC evangelist Henry Kriete’s letter that rebuked ICC leaders for their “seduction by money,” Johnson has claimed the NYCCC was free of financial misdeeds. In fact, Johnson’s own apology to the church was notable for apologizing for everything except financial issues:

"One of the only things I disagree with Henry Kriete's letter about is in the area of finances. Or more directly, I disagree with the way some have interpreted the broad strokes of his letter to incriminate ACES administration or NYC church of Christ administration. Tonight is a night to apologize not to explain. But I long as much as any of you for our finances to be clear to you. There has been no misappropriation of funds. You may disagree with the wisdom of some decisions."

Steve Johnson's Apology in Manhattan, unclescrub.com, March 25, 2003.

The transition team seemingly provided just such an opportunity to clear the air about NYCCC/ACES finances. To members in Rockland, this must now seem to be an opportunity missed.