Christian Leadership Alliance
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Billy Graham's Fiscal Leadership
Nine 'money musts' for ministries.| Outcomes, Summer 2009
We respect Billy Graham for many things, including his financial integrity. Yet we can easily think that was more or less automatic for him—that he just handed off the responsibilities to businesspeople with a charge to be honest. But financial integrity is never simply a given. It is hard fought and hard won, and in today's wrenching economy, dangers and temptations loom larger than ever.
Early in his ministry, Billy was concerned about integrity in all areas. In Modesto, California, he and his team discussed the issues that were often the downfall of evangelists, and made a series of resolutions. The very first on the list was to maintain financial integrity. Billy knew that for many evangelists at the time, "there was little or no accountability for finances. In Modesto we determined to do all we could to avoid financial abuses."
Billy's team then structured the ministry to reinforce guidelines and hold themselves accountable, giving the board authority and accepting its supervision.
In The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham, which I had the privilege of coauthoring with Marshall Shelley, we devoted a whole chapter to Billy's "Mobilizing Money," leading off with his observation, "If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost any other area of his life."
Embedded in the stories of that chapter are at least nine essential principles for integrity in ministry:
1. You've got to care about money.
In writing Leadership Secrets, Marshall and I heard contrasting comments about Billy and finances. His brother Melvin told me, "I've never seen a man in my life that cares as little about money as Billy Frank does." Yet colleagues and trustees emphasized Billy's personal, constant vigilance over organizational finances.
Melvin was referring to personal money, and clearly Billy, in giving away much of his royalties and living on a relatively modest salary, was not out to enrich himself. When it came to his organization, he handed over fiscal responsibility to businesspersons, but he did not disengage from the core responsibilities. He led while staying accountable to the board.
Bob Cooley, who served as president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary when Billy chaired the school's board, said that Billy "understood the interface between mission and economic vitality. That was critical to his leadership."
Mission and economic vitality—the two go together. Some leaders delegate financial matters and believe they can simply concentrate on making the mission happen. But Billy knew that financial matters have huge implications and that senior leadership must lead.
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