We continue to introduce representatives of various ministries of the PCSBA, and today we present our treasurer to you, Alexander Gol. A correspondent of the Information ministry department, Svetlana Iotko, had the following interview with him.
S.I.: You are the treasurer of a large religious organization, the PCSBA. Working with the finances of a religious organizations is always a difficult job with a lot of responsibilities, and there is oversight by both the external and internal inspection bodies. How did you get involved in and later become the head of the financial ministry of the Association? How many years have you been in this ministry? What are your responsibilities?
A.G.: Greetings. Yes, I agree that PCSBA is a large organization that at the present time includes a very extensive network of ministries. I never imagined being the CFO of such a large Christian organization, but God is leading me through life in such a way that many things happened that I could not have planned. I realize this only after the fact, and I see in this God’s providence in my life.
My financial ministry began at the First Slavic Church in Sacramento. At that time, the financial documentation was filled out manually, and when the cashier of our church, one of the older immigrants, Sister Lusya, passed into eternity, Zinaida Kunda accepted this ministry, and continued to do things "the old fashioned way." At this time, I was studying information networks in the computer field at college. At one of the church Elders’ meetings, Fyodor Petrovich Karpets asked if I could help our accountants improve our financial processes by setting up computer programs. Even though the financial area was new to me, I agreed. Using Microsoft programs, I made some files that helped our accounting department. At the time, I did not see a lot of significance in this, as my focus was on other ministries such as participating in Christian radio programs, youth Bible studies, singing, and preaching in the church.
At that time, our church began doing missionary trips with the youth. Missions has always been my priority ever since I moved to America from Kazakhstan. God revealed to me that I could help in organizing the missionary finances, and this was the motivation to take on more financial ministry responsibilities. That is how I agreed to become a treasurer of the church. A little later, Fyodor Dezhnyuk, who was an accountant in the Association, was ordained as a pastor, and became responsible for the church. He suggested me as his replacement as the Association’s accountant.
At that time, there were not as many different ministries in the PCSBA as there are now. Under the influence of leaders from the First Slavic Church of Sacramento, as well as Nikolai Bugriev, (who became the chairman of the PCSBA at that time), and Maxim Gusev, (who later became the leader of the missionary ministry), the missionary ministry, and other ministries were established, and have been ongoing ministries in the PCSBA until now.
My profession is related to computers, but I had to study how the financial system of religious organizations of the country in which we live works. I got help from the women at the church who at that time were already educated in the finance field. One of the issues that I encountered was that although our women work more in the field of finance, the treasurer must be a member of the church Elders’ council. I had to learn the field of finance from scratch, and took additional classes in college, and attended IRS seminars organized by American churches for financial ministries. As of now, I have been in this ministry for more than 20 years. My responsibilities include quite a lot of things, starting with the control and accounting of all cash flows of the PCSBA, and ending with the employee payroll.
S.I.: The budget of the Association. What revenues and expenses does it consist of? How difficult is it to make ends meet when developing the Association's budget? What problems arise with this?
A.G.: The biggest section of income in the Association’s budget is the church donations. Historically, all donations from churches go to ministry departments such as youth, missions, education, women's ministries, and others. The second part of the budget is the income from apartments that are rented out. This part of the income is used for office expenses, and salaries of office workers, the president of the TO, and some department heads who devote a lot of time to develop their ministries.
The budget sets a plan for the next year, and a lot of it depends on the forecasted income: if a small income is expected from churches, then little money is allocated for the development of ministries. Income from apartments is very stable, and therefore, it is easier to plan this portion of the budget. Until now, we have not had a huge problem in making ends meet.
That is the main budget of the Association, but we also have other organizations that work within the Association, such as Our Days Newspaper, the Pacific Thrift Store and Sierra Pines Camp. Funds that come from donations and subscriptions to the newspaper are distributed to pay people who work in the newspaper, make layout, printing, as well as mailing to the Russian-speakers who are living in America and in other countries. Funds that come from the store’s sales are distributed to the ministry of the Missions department and the salary of the store employees.
S.I.: As you said, the ministry of the departments of the Association and its finances are completely dependent on the donations from the churches. Are there any difficulties with this, and if so, what are they?
A.G.: Sometimes there is tension due to the fact that not all churches send the funds that they pledged. Usually, this tension occurs in the first months of the new year when the funds that the churches sent before the convention in October are quickly spent on various ministries. Once the convention has confirmed the budget, each department is in a hurry to receive the allocated funds, but the churches do not yet have their membership meetings in January to draw up their budgets and send their obligations to the Association. The first funds from the churches, for the most part, begin to arrive only after March, and that creates some tension. Today there are churches that understand this and send funds on time - we are grateful to the leaders of such churches.
S.I.: Inflation is now killing the American economy. Does this affect the funds of the PCSBA’s ministries? If so, how? How do you solve problems like this?
A.G.: Until now, inflation has not affected donations too much, as they are sent by churches, and not by individual members who are highly affected by the inflation. Churches send their part of the donations pledged at the convention. I think churches that receive donations from people experience more difficulties in this regard. Unfortunately, not all churches send exactly what they pledged. I don't think it can be related to inflation, there are other reasons for that. Although during the pandemic, it was a lot tougher on the economy, but government programs were there to help with salaries and business development, and that also included religious organizations.
S.I.: If you and I lived in an ideal world, where EVERYTHING happens according to the principle: “Say and do”, what problems would you resolve in your ministry?
A.G.: Of course, in an ideal world, it would be much easier to live, since we could count on the pledges that delegates make at the convention regarding the donations. Every year, when planning the budget, we stick to the budget of 20% less of what is anticipated to better distribute the expenses of the departments. If it were an ideal world, this would not happen. Unfortunately, this year, we even had to settle on a negative (deficit) budget because the departments needed more funds than originally anticipated.
S.I.: What are your plans for the new year?
A.G.: I don't know how to answer this question correctly: there are personal plans and there are plans for the PCSBA. The Association’s plans are formulated by the president and the committee on the basis of resolutions adopted at the convention, and that includes the financial plans.
My personal goal is to make every effort to fulfill my ministry in a manner worthy of the Lord. The next thing is to look for other young people who would be able to serve in this ministry. My age and the number of years in this ministry suggest to me that there is a need for such a search. If there would be someone willing to step up in this ministry, I would be very glad for that.
