Page 12 - IB MAY 2017

Business
The argument for church in business

For

God

or for

Caesar

by Netani Rika
LIKE any modern organisation, church-
es need money in order to pay for ad-
ministration, bills and taxes.
There are also the pressing needs of
the people in times of natural disasters
as well as the time-honoured tradition of
clothing the naked, housing the home-
less and feeding the hungry.
The main stream Christian churches
in the Pacific look to the membership
for financial support through freewill
offerings during weekly services.
In other cases there are annual levies
on congregations based on registered
membership.
Some like Fiji’s Methodist Church and
the Tonga Free Wesleyan congregations
conduct annual festivities during which
members donate
Amounts of money during a choral
competition.
These annual song fests and the asso-
ciated bazaars have generated in excess
of $FJD4 million per annum.
But the high cost of living, village and
family obligations mean that the addi-
tional burden of donating to the church
can be crippling for families.
Vicar-General of the Roman Catho-
lic Archdiocese of Suva, Father Sulio
Turagakacivi, said the church must not
be a burden to the people.
“Our core business as a church is the
Centenery Methodist Chruch in central Suva. The new Raddison will spring up close to it. Photo: Invictus

12 Islands Business, May 2017