A Minnesota man has been found liable for stealing nearly $150,000 from a church where he worked.
Ellis Thompson, who served as treasurer of the Church of Christ, Duluth from February 2022 to August 2023, was recently found liable in a civil lawsuit judgment, reported KQDS-TV on Tuesday.
According to the lawsuit, in the summer of 2023, the church discovered $148,282 in missing funds from its bank account. The complaint alleged that Thompson had written “unapproved checks” in amounts exceeding $2000 to multiple people, including himself, and also withdrew funds from ATMs.
Thompson reportedly confessed to the theft in August 2023 and promised to pay back the church. However, as time passed, he only paid back $716, with the church suing him in June.
Church leadership told KQDS-TV in a statement Tuesday that “The Duluth church of Christ takes the fiduciary responsibility for the monies given to it very seriously.”
“Mr. Thompson had a fiduciary duty to the church and congregation in his capacity as church treasurer,” the church stated. “His actions involving church funds fell outside the church’s guidelines and policies.”
“We are working amicably with Mr. Thompson to resolve the situation, and he has accepted responsibility for his actions.”
According to its website, the Duluth Church of Christ seeks to “‘restore’ the New Testament Church in our time-to determine from the Bible what the church (established by Christ through His apostles) was like in the beginning and to be like that church.”
“The church of Christ has no creed but the Bible. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, and it is all we need to guide us in all religious matters,” reads their website.
“In order for a church to be the same church which you can read of in your New Testament, it must follow the pattern God has set forth for His church. That pattern is the New Testament (Hebrews 9:15-17). The church of Christ follows that pattern.”
According to a 2017 study published by Lifeway Research, nearly one out of 10 Protestant pastors who were surveyed reported that their church had witnessed someone embezzle funds.
The Lifeway Research study also found that congregations at least 250 members were slightly more likely to report witnessing embezzlement than churches with fewer members.
