Hi Folks
Sorry Rensil, I meant to thank you for your comments regarding the grants, loans and pensions that I was enquiring about:
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Rensil
I think the donations and grants refers to financial support SMC gives to a few SMC members who do missionary type work overseas, either long-term or short-term (students)or to those who run similar foreign aid charities. All those involved are SMC members so they're really giving to themselves but would like people and OSCR to think that they're supporting all kinds of needy organisations. They have to now show they are benefitting the public, remember.
Do you know how much these people received and do you think it would amount to substantial amounts? It's just that reading the mission statement on OSCR - it
appears as if they are giving large sums of money to people in need of grants, loans or pensions.
It would be interesting to know how much exactly is being given in this way - even if it is to their own missionaries or chosen students and charities.
It's just that I can't see how they can possibly say that this is a main focus of the organisation when they don't have enough money to keep their own ventures going. Some years ago I worked with a huge charity who were losing a lot of money every year and needed to investigate why, since they had previously been doing very well - to cut a long story short, and without giving away too much detail, this charity had to severely cut their expenses and the very FIRST expense they cut was their level of giving to outside charities, individuals and organisations. They immediately lodged a statement regarding this, with the charities commission, and had their published mission statement changed to reflect the fact that they could no longer support these outside operations for the foreseeable future but would continue to cover their main duties as information and assistance providers to a particular section of the local population. Yes, they did lose some of the public funding they had previously received because of the changes being made - but they were honest and up front and the reduced benefits were built into their plan for the future. Incidentally, that was 12 years ago and that particular charity is now back on it's feet and fully supporting ALL it's original commitments.
So, fair enough if SMC are giving such grants in the way they say they are (by their mission statement on OSCR site), but I don't see how they can be - given the present level of
consistent annual losses. It just doesn't make any sense to me.
Furthermore, the charity I mentioned above are NOT religious in any way but at least they are truthful and have integrity on their side. On the other hand, here we have Struthers Memorial Church, whose leaders believe they are akin to God himself and they are way more HOLY than anyone else on earth and yet they appear to be continually trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the charities commission, the public and even their own members. That's not the kind of holiness taught in my Bible.
Is there a new Bible I haven't heard about? "The Gospel According to Struthers Memorial Church", which preaches unaccountability?
As always biiiiiiig love and huge huggggggs to all
God Bless xxx