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Issue #63 - July 2017

How much wealth a church can have seems to be a subject of debate today. the church also needs to be seen to be working. That way, it will encourage even
This month, we caught up with Deborah Kigula and found out what she had the others to go out and work to get their tithes and offerings.
Secondly, we are in a backward country, underdeveloped and greatly illiterate.
to say on the subject.
Maybe if we were in a different kind of society, I would think differently, but in
Uganda today you cannot sit and teach the scripture of giving tithes in the

DEBORAH church to people who dont even have a clue that they have to work hard to take
care of themselves before they even care for the church. Most of these people
have nothing to bring as tithes and offerings.
KIGULA When they come to church, they are coming to ask from the church. So how can
the church look to them to bring in the tithe? It is scriptural that churches should
depend on tithes but that is only possible in the society of people who really
Deborah is married to understand their obligations
Joseph M. Kigula. The church should, therefore, get involved in income generating activities
She came to know the Lord in because almost everybody who comes to church is needy and poor and are com-
ing to church to ask from it.
Primary seven.
When you look at Kampala Baptist Church itself, we are not so many people
Her first job was with maybe a congregation of two hundred or three hundred people. But if you see
the unemployment we have in just those three hundred people, that makes you
Coopers and Lybrand (present
know that, one of the responsibilities you have as a church is to be job creators.
day PricewaterhouseCoopers) Otherwise, we would not have people coming to church every Sunday praying
before she got into business in for work, employment, etc. And the church must be part of the solution; which is
why I think that church, besides making moneywhich money should be
1986 two years after her
brought back into church activities must also be creating jobs because that is
graduation. a real need in this country that is not about to go away. We cannot give it lip
She joined Kampala Baptist Church after getting married to Joseph service; we have to act on it.

who was already in Kampala Baptist Church. 4. How can the church strike a balance between fulfilling its spiritual
mandate and wealth accumulation?
1. Would you be comfortable if the Church Finance Committee on which you In the church, we are a body and the bible tells us there are different gifts in the
serve was renamed the Church body of Christ. There are people who
Wealth Committee? will be able to manage the business
Definitely, I would not be comfortable
because it would stretch our mandates. church wealth goes way aspect of the church and there are
those who will be able to do the
spiritual work we are supposed to do.
beyond money
I think wealth is bigger than just
finance. When you are on a finance Our pastors are not supposed to leave
committee, you are only limited to the the pulpit to go do business but we can
financial obligations and management have the people who are gifted in that
of the churchthat is a specific duty. The money comes in, it is administered area to work and to manage the church businesses. It cannot be one person.
and accounted for as we show value for money.
When you talk about wealth, church wealth goes way beyond money. You are
talking about the finances, the bank balances, assets, capital accumulations,
debts and other financial obligations; thats the first aspect of wealth. The other
aspect would be the people in the church: what quality do you have, the
number of people you have, the age group, the spiritual and financial
productivity of the people including how they manage their own financial
obligations, then their qualifications which should determine their productivity.
The other aspect of church wealth would be the staffhow well they meet the
set goals for the church. If you have staff that can perform beyond the set
church goals, that also is wealth.
2. What would you, as a person, look at to consider a church wealthy?
As a business person, first I would consider their bank balance. They should
have a bank balance that can sustain whatever they need to do.
I would also look at the number of church members. It is important to have the
numbers, so, if I see the numbers I would say that church is wealthy. However,
coupled with the numbers, I would also look at the spiritual maturity of those
numbers. I want to see a display of a high level of spirituality and understanding
of what God wants them to do. Deborah and her husband, Joseph
Then I would look at its assets like the buildings and other tangible assets.
The KEY RING is a monthly publication by the Kampala Baptist Church Media
3. Should churches engage in income generating activities? Team that seeks to provide an avenue where men and women can share
Everybody should be involved in income generating activities, including knowledge and understanding of the word of God, experiences and
churches. I dont think there is going to be money coming in when there is no encourage one another as the older perform the act of paralambano to the
production. The tithes and offerings come from people who are working and younger.
Our prayer is that the Lord will speak to you through this publication.

Drop us an email at kbcmediateam@gmail.com Visit the church website at www.kbcuganda.org

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