The Conference was a wonderful experience and if we have the opportunity, I would choose that venue again. (You can’t hold these at cheap motels, you know. They have no conference facilities.) Since my first post-Conference report, I have still heard no complaints, only compliments about the quality of the venue. So, as I said, everything was wonderful… except on the financial side.
In the past, we have usually been fairly close to breaking even with conferences and I have never put out a public expense report. When people have asked, I would normally say, we did okay, even if we were in the red a little bit.
A brother and his wife—whom I know well—asked me during the Conference if I had any idea how the finances were going to end up. I told him that I had felt months ago that we would take a financial bath. My intuition was correct and we are in the midst of that bath… Hmmm…a cleansing period. I am in my 76th year—the number of cleansing. That makes me feel better already. That portion in italics only occurred to me on this final draft.
This Christian brother and his wife promised me $500 in three installments to help out. I know that is sacrificial giving for them. The second installment came in the mail a couple days ago.
But this gentleman also recommended that if it ends up in the red, that I simply put out the word and keep reporting on it until the debt is retired. I am following his advice. A couple other folks had also asked me about it and privately I also told them of what the financial picture was likely to be.
I utterly loathe having to talk about money. In fact, at this Conference I did not address finances even once from the podium. I recognized most of the people in the audience and knew that the vast majority of them were stretching their budgets just to attend the Conference. When it comes to ministry finances, I never want to intimidate the attendees into giving or put a guilt trip on anyone.
My attitude may have stemmed from my life experiences many decades ago. When I was a senior in journalism school at Ohio State, one class was a semester-long project to create a documentary about an hour in length which would air on the central Ohio CPB-NPR station, WOSU.
The professor-advisor took recommendations from us about what subject we should focus on. No one except me had any suggestions—until he quashed mine. I strongly promoted that we send an undercover team of us students to attend and record the antics of a certain televangelist “healer” who was widely known in central Ohio. I wanted to expose him as a fraud.
This was a couple years before I surrendered my life to Christ, but I had no difficulty in recognizing his operation as a total scam, fleecing the sheep. The professor nixed that idea immediately as too “hot” and told us it would expose the University to lawsuits. I was disappointed but understood.
Long before I was in full time ministry I had read several books revealing the techniques used by many televangelists to rob the flock. After I was in ministry, a fellow Kingdom minister told me how he had been invited to attend a weekend ministers-only seminar put on at Liberty University by the Rev. Jerry Falwell.
In one afternoon class he heard the late Rev. Falwell unashamedly instructing the ministers on the trick of how to take up three collections in one service! For example, take up one for the Jews in the state of Israel, later in the “sermon” pass the hat again for the support of Liberty University and finally, pass the collection basket once more for your local Church. Yikes! —fleecing the sheep “for filthy lucre’s sake” (Titus 1:11).
Those who have attended our Conferences over the past 20+ years might recall that I used to ask the audience to give their gifts to each of the speakers individually instead of giving their Conference expense offerings to SKM and leave it up to me to divvy up.
So in the past, I did not write checks as honoraria to the speakers, but did give them reasonable reimbursements for gas if they were driving, and pay for their airfare if flying (in addition to their sleeping rooms, of course). Notice, we had none of the speakers flying in for this Conference as again, early on, I intuitively felt we would be in the red.
I also learned in the week before the Conference that it would be an extra nearly two grand to have a stage, so I scratched that idea. Normally, that is included in the meeting space rental, and I assumed it would be the case this time.
But as we prepared to discuss the meeting space set-up, I discovered that is not the arrangement at this Embassy Suites. Their arrangement is that the in-house Ruth’s Chris restaurant does the setup, not the Sales & Catering Office of the Embassy. So Ruth’s Chris was the entity who would charge us the two grand to set up and take down a stage.
This time, I did write checks to the speakers for more than just their gas expense; but you would be surprised how paltry the honoraria was considering the time and work involved for our speakers. I am almost embarrassed to hand them such a check. (And I am sure Stephen Jones has felt the same way when he takes the lead in a Conference.)
So here is the bottom line:
What it cost: $13,595.
What we took in: $5,022. That includes not only what was received at the Conference, but from a few gifts received by us before and since the Conference which (unsolicited by us) were designated by the giver for Conference expenses. Thank you!
Shortfall: $8,573.
The bulk of it is on my credit card which I will pay off as quickly as donations from our friends allow. I must stress that with this worst-ever financial outcome for a Conference, I do not plan to hold another unless and until our supporters can help us clear this debt.
I cannot take that kind of risk again if I am still whittling away at this debt many months from now. I truly do desire to hold Conferences because I realize how much we all need the fellowship with one another.
If I were wealthy, I would cover the whole debt myself. If I had desired to be rich, I would have stayed in the construction business. And by the way, to dispel a rumor, I have heard comments over the years that indicate that some people think that because I was once a general contractor that I made a lot of money and had quite a bit when I entered ministry. I did not.
I probably would have been “sitting pretty” and retired by now, but I did not remain in that career long enough. I do not regret my decision because I know that I am doing what the Father sent me to do: Feed His sheep; but not fleece the sheep.
When I began SKM as my full-time occupation in 1991, I had virtually nothing. (Reminds of the joke: I had nothing when I came into this world, and I still have most of it left 😊.)
Moreover, I can assure you, being a Bible teacher and teaching what we believe—which almost all of the church in their blindness considers heresy—does not work out well if one intends to accumulate any substantial degree of wealth. Because, as Isaiah said, “Who hath believed our report?” {report: or, doctrine}… Isaiah 53:1.
Hence, we are a very tiny ministry surviving only on the tithes and donations from that small number of people who do believe our doctrines (especially our doctrines of the Christian-Israel, Kingdom-Covenant message, and that of the eventual salvation of all mankind).
Consequently, we are sustained in our month-to-month expenses by the regular (or occasional) support from those who are fed and blessed by this ministry, so we are at this juncture asking you for anything over and above your normal, occasional, or regular giving.
If you can help, when you do send your donation, please advise me if, and what portion of it, should go towards our debt obligation. I will keep you posted on progress. For those of you who are not financially able to help; would you kindly pray the Father to provide for this need?
I will not spend the time or postage to send individual thank you letters; except to those who send their gift in a form where they have no way of knowing if we received it (e.g., cash, money orders, cashier’s check, etc.) We do not accept credit cards in this office, but you can use credit cards via Stripe or PayPal at our website (Of the two, Stripe is preferred.)
With that, I thank our Father and I thank you in advance.
Have a blessed weekend!
~END~
