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COGLayman

Dallas COG - Embezzelment of $470,000

COGLayman · Friendly Face Posts: 255 **12/22/23 3:04 pm**

News media have reported that Jordan Shortridge has been charged with embezzlement of $470,000.00 since 2018. He is the former pastor's grandson. This is sad if it is true. You can do a google search and there are a number of articles about it.

I think the Shortridge family is a wonderful family. I assume that after the police investigate they will determine if indeed it did happen and if so how.

In so many churches there is little if any financial information that is given to the members. I once had a pastor that refused to give me any information on how money was being spent. I quickly left and they never got another dollar from me. I believe church financial information should be available to any member without having to ask for it.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/pastors-grandson-accused-of-embezzling-470k-from-church.html

sheepdogandy

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 7298 **12/22/23 3:19 pm**

An itemized "to the penny" financial report is posted on the Church bulletin board.

Every member of the Church Conference and anyone else for that matter can receive one quarterly.

Every expenditure and deposit is listed.

All monies are accounted for.

Yes, that includes my salary and benefits.
_________________
Charles A. Hutchins
Senior Pastor SPWC
Congregational Church of God

www.spwc.church

COGLayman

Sheepdogandy - You are to be commended

Friendly Face Posts: 255 **12/22/23 4:00 pm**

Very few pastors do what you do. You are to be commended for going the extra mile in making sure your church finances are disclosed.

I am sick and stunned by this development at Dallas. How can nearly $100,000 per year be missing and no one notice it and stop it for 5 years? If it was noticed how long did it take and why wasn't it stopped sooner? That is just an unbelievable figure.

FLRon

Acts-celerater Posts: 771 **12/22/23 11:05 pm**

I alluded to this in another post, but this is why it is never a good idea to have the Pastors family involved in church finances. The temptation to look the other way is too great. Not accusing the Shortridge family of doing this, but it happens more than you think.
_________________
“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
Voddie Baucham

Carolyn Smith

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5910 **12/23/23 9:11 am**

georgiapath

Re: Sheepdogandy - You are to be commended

Acts-dicted Posts: 7587 **12/23/23 10:34 am**

Aaron Scott

Dallas, NC Church of God has the about the best choir singing anywhere

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6032 **12/23/23 9:38 pm**

They don't have a praise team or the such (which, at least in my experience, tends to create hurt feelings, since this or that singer has to "stay" in the choir, while another singer gets to be out front with the praise team). When they are cooking, it's about as good as I've heard choir singing done!

Bro. Shortridge has always struck me as a good and decent man, as has his entire family.

Pretty much all I know about the matter is what was posted here, but some thoughts....

1. We are all human. What tempts you may not tempt me, and vice versa. But under the right circumstances, if we don't take advantage of the grace that is extended to us (and it often seems like only a "straw" of grace in the drowning of temptation), we will succumb.

2. Sometimes, a small, initial sin gets compounded as we try to cover it up. For instance, "borrowing" more money to pay off the money that was already taken.

3. The heartbreak is far deeper than money. For some people, this will taint the legacy of a man of God. Also, there is the fact that a family is now having to endure terrible heartbreak--e.g., the lose of a grandchild to prison...the inevitable divisions that can spring up in a family as people take certain sides or feel certain ways...the hurt that will reduce the golden years of honor, etc .

4. The money is the LEAST of the issues. This has no doubt permitted some overly-ambitious "powers" in the church to become ascendant, seeking to put their own stamp on the future of this church, since those who supported the former pastor will have their hands weakened.

The Dallas COG was what would be known as an old-fashioned "holiness" church. They were conservative in many of the ways that most of us grew up in. Oddly enough, many years ago, another pastor that was known for his staunch stance on these sort of standards was found to have embezzled. It broke the man, I am afraid. It broke up his family, and, to my knowledge, after all these years, this man who was a very good preacher, has still not recovered.

May God help the Dallas COG, the Shortridges, and the man I mentioned at the end. They all need God's grace.

COGLayman

The Shortridge family is one of the best!

Friendly Face Posts: 255 **12/24/23 8:00 am**

The Shortridge family is one of the best I've ever known. Their dedication and commitment is second to none. I've watched them on-line for years and they have been a tremendous blessing.

I can only imagine how difficult this must be for them. It is so sad to see them go through this. None of us are perfect. We need to pray for them and the Dallas COG as they deal with the fall out from this.

Cojak

01000001 01100011 01110100 01110011 Posts: 24277 **12/24/23 5:24 pm**

It is a shame but we humans, even the Christians, attach the sins of the sons to the fathers. I was just talking to someone today that Now when I see a felon in the news whether a murderer or drug king , I immediately think of the mother and Dad and how much they must hurt.

I was once fishing with a former Overseer. His son had just lost his ordination due to sexual impropriety, He said, "Now I know how Earl felt when Junior lost it."

Somehow the blame shifts up.

Tomorrow on Christmas day i will visit a son who cannot have visitors except Holidays and Sunday services, He has no phone privileges. He brought it on himself, but you would be amazed that I can feel the blame around some of the folks he knew.

In This life Bro Danny will never live to see the time that HE is not blamed by some WELL MEANING(?) people who have no idea how broken his heart is.
Cleaning up the old Navy saying: "One Mistake can wipe out 100 atta boys."
It works in families the same. Crying or Very sad

_________________
Some facts but mostly just my opinion!
jacsher@aol.com
http://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/

georgiapath

Acts-dicted Posts: 7587 **12/24/23 7:33 pm**

Preacher777

Friendly Face Posts: 434 **12/26/23 7:42 am**

I could not help but think of the Shortridge family as I enjoyed Christmas with my family yesterday and my heart broke for them. I cannot imagine the pain that family is facing as they got together on Christmas and every other day. We need to continue praying for them.

Nature Boy Florida

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16619 **12/26/23 9:25 am**

Most pastors have no degree in accounting - which would help them see how they might be easily fleeced...and they would put in place procedures to keep this from happening.

Pastors think they are the smartest guy in the room - in every situation. Of course the most successful pastors know this isn't true.

If it's a small church , they should hire an outside review to get an actual qualified person to review. A few hundred bucks every year goes a long ways.

Add in nepotism - and it compounds the problem exponentially.

So this stuff keeps happening - at Dallas and at General Hdq. and everywhere in between.

<sigh>
_________________
Whether you like it or not, learn to love it, because its the best thing going today!