{"id":106,"date":"2016-03-16T00:21:44","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T00:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usc2016.nextgenradio.org\/?p=106"},"modified":"2016-03-17T21:11:25","modified_gmt":"2016-03-17T21:11:25","slug":"black-churches-value-financial-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usc2016.nextgenradio.org\/index.php\/2016\/03\/16\/black-churches-value-financial-infrastructure\/","title":{"rendered":"Black churches value ‘financial infrastructure’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Money can be a touchy subject.<\/p>\n

But in some black churches in South Los Angeles, it’s the focal point of Sunday sermons. Rather than\u00a0preaching\u00a0“financial literacy,”\u00a0Ward AME Church<\/a>\u00a0teaches “financial infrastructure.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI try not to use the word \u2018literacy\u2019 because you\u2019re almost insulting people when you say they\u2019re not financially literate,\u201d said John Brown, the chairman pro tem of the trustee board at Ward AME Church, which\u00a0nestled near the University of Southern California campus.<\/p>\n

\""Financial

John Brown, a trustee at Ward AME Church, said the word “financial infrastructure” is should be used instead of “financial literacy.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Brown is a certified public accountant, and uses his money savvy to count the offering and tithes after 10 a.m. service on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have financial infrastructure in place, things become sustainable in our personal lives, in our family, in our community and in our businesses,\u201d\u00a0the trustee\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

Compared to financial literacy, financial infrastructure is more concerned with\u00a0the black community growing together, passing down their wealth to the next generation.<\/p>\n

CPA and church trustee John Brown sees congregants at Ward AME learning how to\u00a0be fiscally responsible together.<\/p>\n

“My ministry in life is teaching my people economic parity,” he said. “That\u2019s how I plan to spend the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

 
\n
\n