Why are Saint Matthew’s Churches’ Seed Faith Offerings and Church Mail sent to an address in Tulsa?

Saint Matthew’s Churches board concluded years ago that our church needed highly professional advice in handling seed faith offerings. After talking with quite a few well-known and reputable clergy and leaders, many advised us to hire a law firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that would handle our offerings with integrity. We followed that advice, and this decision has served Saint Matthew’s well for decades. Today, churches just like Saint Matthew’s must comply with a host of state and federal laws, regulations, and requirements. Our professional attorneys handle Saint Matthew’s records, fill out the necessary state and federal government forms, and answer any questions that state and federal government may have about Saint Matthew’s Churches from time to time.

Saint Matthew’s Churches was advised to have the church’s mail and seed faith offerings sent to a post office box in Tulsa, and to have the mail and seed faith offerings delivered to a secular firm, completely independent of Saint Matthew’s. In accordance with that advice, we hired a secular company to open each church letter and seed faith offering under video security cameras. Following strict recording and accounting procedures, the secular and independent company deposits every seed faith donation into a bank. As well, records of the checks with which Saint Matthew’s pays church bills are kept impeccably. Not a single member of Saint Matthew’s clergy is ever near the church tithes or seed faith offerings. Saint Matthew’s Churches does not have a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has no plan to have one there.

Following is the method that Saint Matthew’s Churches follows for the seed faith donations from the Churches members:

• • • The Churches members mail their letters and seed faith donations to a post office in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
    • The United States Post Office delivers the Churches mail and seed faith donations to the secular firm that opens it and removes donations.
    • Seed faith donations are deposited into the Churches’ bank account from which Saint Matthew’s Churches writes checks from seed faith donations to pay church bills.
    • Then, every letter is sent to Saint Matthew’s where they are read, and prayer requests are prayed over daily.

Saint Matthew’s Churches has had churches in various cities throughout the years. We now have a church and have no present plans to add more churches. The Sunday seed faith offerings at the local church are counted by several people, who sign and date the proper documents pertaining to the seed faith offerings. This Saint Matthew’s Churches procedure applies only to the local church. This has been Saint Matthew’s policy on seed faith offerings for nearly three decades.

Why does Saint Matthew’s Churches follow this procedure?

The answer is integrity. We are aware that Saint Matthews Churches is one of the few churches with this level of security for their national seed faith donations. However, we chose to follow this procedure because it establishes a proven track record with the U.S. Post Office, an independent and professional accounting firm, and a law firm.

As noted, the legal counsel for Saint Matthew’s Churches advised us to implement these strict procedures pertaining to seed faith donations. Saint Matthew’s recommends that all ministers and churches follow these procedures.