May a church receive interest on the money it has deposited at a bank?
Question:
The local bank, which the church here has been doing business with for over six decades, is closing its local office. The next nearest office is over 20 miles away. If we maintain our current account, the church treasurer would have to drive the extra miles to make the contribution deposit, and at other times when his presence was necessary for carrying out church business. The men have talked about moving the church's business to another bank or credit union. Several of us have a local account with a credit union, which pays unsolicited interest on our checking accounts.
Will God be pleased with using an interest-bearing account? At the same time, we are concerned about the conscience of others.
Answer:
The only means a church has to raise its operating funds is through voluntary contributions (I Corinthians 16:1-2). This is why objections are made to churches raising money via sales. If you were discussing storing the church's funds in a stock market account to increase the amount of cash available to the church, then we would have a problem.
The amount of interest typically offered by banks on their accounts doesn't even cover the loss of monetary value due to inflation. Bank accounts do not generate profit; therefore, such accounts don't violate the idea that churches only raise their funds by voluntary contributions.
Response:
