The business of religion
By Amanda Yong and Lediati Tan
June 03, 2010
That tithe is collected in churches is not new. But how it is used may have changed over time and that is causing some concern.
In 2001, eyebrows were raised when New Creation Church bought East Coast Recreation Centre, through its business arm Rock Productions, for over $10 million. Some of the church members had questioned then the use of church funds for investment purposes.
This year, City Harvest's investment in Suntec City – where New Creation Church runs its services - sparked a series of letters to the press.
Once again, the use of donations, or tithe, for business became an issue among some church members.
Mr Kong himself mapped out the church's fund raising strategy in 2005.
His target? $2 million a month or an average of $100 per church member to hit the target of about $40 million in a year.
With large sums of money involved, the issue of corporate governance emerges.
Associate Professor Victor Yeo Chuan Seng of the Nanyang Business School said: "I think that regardless of whether it is a charity or religious organisation. There's always room for good governance."
He said he had no issues with religious organisations being run as business organisations "so long as they keep to their objective" – that of meeting the spiritual needs of its community.
