Protecting the Church Offering

An entire offering from an evening church service was stolen when the church board member counting it momentarily stepped away, according to NewsChannel 3. It's reported that he heard a door slam and then discovered the money was gone.

One step of fraud prevention is to require more than one person to be present while counting an offering, but this case shows that two people present may help with more than fraud prevention. It can also help protect against people who may know or see where the money is counted and might sneak in while someone is looking away.

Another way to protect the church offering is to "consider providing a secure location for counting church offerings," Steve Edmonds writes. "While most cash control measures are procedural, this is another area in which a church's design can improve security. If a school for criminals existed, one of the primary ...