Friday, April 22, 2011

Antioch - Canon 25

Let the bishop have power over the funds of the Church, so as to dispense them with all piety and in the fear of God to all who need.  And if there be occasion, let him take what he requires for his own necessary uses and those of his brethren sojourning with him, so that they may in no way lack, according to the divine Apostle, who says, “Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content.”  And if he shall not be content with these, but shall apply the funds to his own private uses, and not manage the revenues of the Church, or the rent of the farms, with the consent of the presbyters and deacons, but shall give the authority to his own domestics and kinsmen, or brothers, or sons, so that the accounts of the Church are secretly injured, he himself shall submit to an investigation by the synod of the province.  But if, on the other hand, the bishop or his presbyters shall be defamed as appropriating to themselves what belongs to the Church, (whether from lands or any other ecclesiastical resources), so that the poor are oppressed, and accusation and infamy are brought upon the account and on those who so administer it, let them also be subject to correction, the holy synod determining what is right.

The overseer had final authority over church funds but not without the elders auditing how the funds were used.  When appropriate, the overseer could take funds for personal necessities.  The synod determined corrective discipline in any case of impropriety.



This concludes the Canons of Antioch

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