Crystal Cathedral CFO retires before bankruptcy…
Posted by Todd Rhoades in Current Events on Feb 11th, 2011 | 4 commentsCrystal Cathedral’s chief financial officer, whose $132,000 tax-exempt housing allowance has been challenged in bankruptcy court, has retired.
Fred Southard, who is in his 70s, has served as the Garden Grove-based megachurch’s CFO for more than 30 years.
Southard said Tuesday that he resigned voluntarily to make way for younger administrators and more importantly, to save the church money. Southard, who came to Crystal Cathedral after serving as U-Haul’s CEO, received a $132,000 housing allowance for his Newport Coast home.
via TheSpec – Crystal Cathedral CFO retires before bankruptcy….
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I disagree with most of the people that complain about pastors making too much. But what was this guy getting paid for? Obviously he failed miserably.
As more news comes out about the Chrystal Cathedral and their payroll I am blown away. My big question is how was God being glorified and what was the plan that justified a $132,000 CFO.
If the guy was CFO for 30 years, and successful CEO of U-Haul, then my guess is that he was worth every penny of his $132,000 allowance. I realize that this kind of cash could fund my small church’s current budget for five years, but the Crystal Cathedral was bringing in millions of dollars and spending it to get the message out.
The bottom line is that this is not so much about this one man, but about the culture of a church that is struggling to stay focused on what is really important. The ministry was really successful, but family infighting is certain to destroy it. That’s the really big question: How is God glorified when it’s all about the personalities?
May God correct us as we drift in this direction!
The percentages seem “a bit” off. I’ve always designated 65% of what I receive as housing allowance and the remaining 35% as salary. And when my housing expenses don’t meet the 65% figure, I simply pay taxes on the difference. I’ve never been audited, and in conversations with other pastors through the years, this seems to be an often-used formula.
Look, I know that it’s more expensive to live in Newport Beach, CA than in Newberg, OR, but I’d be curious to see the housing allowance work-sheet justifying what appears to be a pretty lopsided formula (91% housing allowance … 9% salary). But hey, what do I know, maybe Fred’s lawn service is just very expensive in Newport Beach.
An aside … my dad and mom were in a church young married’s group with Fred Southard and his wife Betty in the late 1950′s. In late 1960′s when they lived in Phoenix and Fred was working at U-Haul, Betty came to visit us in Eugene, OR, and when she flew home, she accidentally left one of her wig boxes [think of the movie "Hairspray"].
When I came home from school my mom was standing at the kitchen sink with an apron on, doing dishes, while wearing Betty’s left-behind, piled-high, blond wig. I didn’t know if my mom was going through a mid-life crisis, or she was jealous, or if she’d been taken over by the spirit of Tammy Faye Baker or Jan Crouch. But at least her charade solidified my belief that my mom had a good sense of humor, and was comfortable with her own hair — even though for years it was colored a nearly Lucille Ball red. Godspeed.
read.think.pray.live.
Gregg Lamm | Newberg, OR
gregg.lamm@gmail.com | http://www.2ndstreet.org
971.832.0010
Given the people I know of (one of my sons is one of them) that are facing foreclosure, Schuller crying in public and begging for millions while knowing about the salaries of these folks is nothing but sad. A place like this, so totally out of touch with people they expect love gifts from, maybe deserves to be in bankruptcy.