Board Candidate Stephen Rust on Finances

Stephen Rust Weighs In

Something About Finances

My wife and I moved to Hammond, IN in 1987. For the better part of the next 30 years we lived there and attended First Baptist Church Hammond. I worked for the church for 17 years until retiring and moving to HSV.
FBC Hammond had a membership of about 100K, with an average weekly attendance of about 15,000. The church operated a college, two Christian schools k – 12, and had at least a dozen different ministries.

The church operated on a $16 million dollar budget yearly. We never had a 52 page proposed budget (like HSV), we never had an 11 page monthly financial statement with graphs and charts (like HSV), both of which the majority of villagers either don’t understand or won’t take the time to understand.

BOD Candidate Stephen Rust with Wife and Inlaws — Left to right, Suzan’s parents, Sue and Travis Watson, Stephen Rust, Suzan Watson Rust

What we did have was a monthly line item financial statement which listed every check written, which budget item it came from, the check number, amount of the check and to whom it was written. This was done so that people knew exactly where their money was spent. Just a side note, we also knew the salary of the pastor of what was at one time the world’s largest Sunday School, since we paid his salary.

Maybe it’s just me, but I wonder why HSV has financial statements that most don’t understand and why I’m not told exactly where my money is spent.
Stephen Rust, HSV POA BOD Candidate

Stephen Rust currently attends the Gospel Light Baptist in Malvern with his wife, Suzan.