In the late 1920s, two major defalcations by board treasurers rocked the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The first was a theft of a little over $100,000 from the Foreign Mission Board in Richmond, VA, and the second was a staggering $900,000 from the Home Mission Board in Atlanta, GA. A common thread between the thefts was an overarching, albeit misplaced, trust in the men involved, combined with a lack of direct control by the separate boards and lax audit procedures. In the end, both perpetrators were convicted of their crimes and went to jail. The scandal compelled SBC officials to develop new accounting controls to minimize the risk of a reoccurrence in the future.

Data Availability: Articles and books used in this manuscript are available from the public sources and cited in References.

JEL Classification: M40; M41; M42.

Keywords:
religious entities, Southern Baptist Convention, accounting, auditing, internal controls, embezzlement, fraud
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2024
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