Reviving the Commission on Financial Management Program

Cynthia Gordon-Floyd, C.P.A., C.F.E.

On pages 240-241 of TheDoctrineandDisciplineoftheAfricanMethodistEpiscopal Church, 2016 (Discipline), we find, in the section on Connectional Departments and Commissions, the Commission on Financial Management Program. This Commission would consist of nine (9) persons who must possess the formal education and professional experience to provide the expertise required to perform the duties of this commission. In addition, the Discipline lists eight (8) duties of this commission designed to provide financial oversight, policies, and procedures. I have found the following items to be especially pertinent:

#5) Analyze the operations of each General Department, Agency, and Institution of the Church with the purpose of determining the productive benefits occurring from their operations and the degree of efficiency by which these operations are administered.

#6) Recommend to the General Board and General Conference specific goals to be achieved by each department, agency, or institution supported by the general fund of the church and establish time schedules of progress by which each department, agency, or institution shall be required to conform in order to produce the greatest benefits for the Church.

#7) Supervise and structure policy for the productive operation of an Office of Research, Planning, and Evaluation.

This Commission has been in our Discipline since 1980 and has never been implemented. This Commission would have implemented financial oversight, policies, and procedures that would have ensured that issues such

Is Trumpism Dead?

Quardricos Driskell, Columnist

Democrats were slated to get a shellacking this mid-term election, and Republicans were widely expected to win the House overwhelmingly and possibly take control of the U.S. Senate in what has been forecasted as a “red wave.” Indeed, that was not the case. Historically, since the Civil War, the president’s party has lost seats at every midterm except for a few times. And this is one of those times.

In August, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, “I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different statewide, and candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.”

The tactician minority leader of the Senate was correct. Republicans performed poorly overall. Why? Could it have been because of larger issues such as abortion, election denialism, and Christian Nationalism? Frankly, all these issues were on the ballot, as other high-priority policy issues, including inflation, the economy, health care, crime, and education, with the diverse voting population split by age, region, and religious affiliation. This year’s midterm results indicated that the voters were not solely single-issue voters. People will vote for more tangible kitchen table issues such as gas prices than over the “threat to democracy.”

Perhaps, President Biden’s “treat to democracy” speech was more impactful than initially thought. As such, important lessons resulted from the 2022 midterms: President Trump is a liability to his party. This revelation is perhaps the number as our Retirement Services financial tragedy, and other misappropriations that have occurred across our church at the Connectional level, would have been detected before they became huge problems. But unfortunately, too many areas of our church are still allowed to operate without oversight. If we continue to avoid implementing oversight that the denomination has already adopted into our Discipline, we are to blame. one issue with which the Republican Party needs to contend – the lingering effects of Trumpism. Electoral politics is about addition and not subtraction. Candidate quality matters, as Sen. McConnell lamented - move on from the past and stop talking about an election that is over. Most of the election deniers are not doing well, either. Trumpism alienates voters who normally would vote Republican. So, as the GOP becomes more extreme, Democrats will be required to absorb more of the country’s ideological diversity, thus forcing them to be more conservative when campaigning to win a large swath of American voters.

The Connectional Lay Organization’s Legislation Committee is currently working on suggested revisions to the current wording of this Commission for consideration by clergy and laity for adoption. These revisions will focus on strengthening the independence of the Commission members and ensuring they are qualified for the positions. My hope is that we will hear more about the proposed revisions to the Commission and will provide our support for this important legislative effort. It is our responsibility to do all we can to strengthen our beloved Zion; this is part of the critical work required.

Cynthia Gordon-Floyd is a certified public accountant and a certified fraud examiner. She is the founder of Willing Steward Ministries, LLC. Willing Steward Ministries (www.willingsteward.com) is a financial consulting and accounting firm for churches and other faith-based non-profits, specializing in Bible-focused financial practices, pastoral compensation issues, IRS compliance, and other financial needs specific to churches. Cynthia is a graduate of Lake Forest College and holds her MBA in Accounting from DePaul University. She is a steward and the financial secretary at the First AME Church of Manassas in Manassas, Virginia.

The stain that Trump has on our federal republic is permanent. The country voted against authoritarianism. Even in very conservative states, voters strongly support abortion access – essentially, people do not want their freedom restricted.

Another issue begs the Republican Party to ask what kind of party it wants to be. Time after time, Republicans have shown they want Trumpism. But these results are a moment of soul-searching for the GOP. It is clear – voters want respectable, principled, non-grifting candidates – and the reality is that the Republican Party needs to go in a different direction. Will Republican candidates do what the voters have mandated? Not so fast; cue Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.

In DeSantis’ victory speech, he said, “We reject woke ideology. We will never, ever surrender to the woke agenda. People have come here because of our policies. The people have delivered their verdict – freedom is here to stay.”

While Ron DeSantis and Trump appear to be rivals, DeSantis embraces Trumpism. In fact, DeSantis may be even more dangerous than Trump to some degree because he has shown that he can actually implement and execute his policies, unlike Trump. Therefore, the question and strategy for the GOP becomes how to frame extremism into a more “mainstream” package like Governors DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin (R-VA).

Overall, the voters showed the country that bad candidates do not deserve to win because they are members of your preferred political party. And despite the GOP’s best efforts to reach Latinos – the partisan split of Hispanic voters stuck with more traditional trends of voting for Democrats.

There was a loser for the 2022 midterm election – political polling. There are polls, and there are people. And thus, to anyone involved in politics, which is motivated to review polls in the future, stop and knock on a door. There was a clear winner in the 2022 midterm – we, the people. We proved once again the country is plum – not “red” or “blue” but slightly more “red.”

Quardricos Bernard Driskell is an adjunct professor of legislative politics, where he teaches religion, race, public policy, and politics at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. Follow him on Twitter @q_driskell4.