> Most denominations have had cases of embezzlement, sometimes by top
> officials. In June, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. fired its
> second-ranking financial officer, Judy Golliher, after she admitted
> stealing money that church officials put at more than $132,000.
>
> Many nonprofit organizations that accept cash donations experience
> theft, and churches are particularly vulnerable, said John C. Knapp,
> director of the Southern Institute for Business and Professional
> Ethics, at Georgia State University in Atlanta.
>
> "Churches have a tendency to be in denial about the potential for this
> conduct in their midst," Mr. Knapp said. "When ethics seminars or
> ethics codes are proposed in churches, they are often met with
> resistance from people who say, 'Why in the world would we need this?
> After all, this is the church.' Whereas in business, people readily
> recognize that this sort of thing can happen."
>
>