Yen, rupees, euro, rand, dinars, pesos, schillings, francs, shekels—these are a few of the currencies the treasury department at the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s 58th General Conference Session has to process following each offering collected at the worship services.

It can be a real challenge when you stop to think “there are more than 200 countries represented at this Session, each with its own currency,” said Juan R. Prestol, treasurer for the church in North America.

“Some of these currencies are tradable. Some are not. In some cases it will take months to actually receive the appropriate funds. Some banks will buy back and make monies available,” Prestol said. “If a currency is not known, it may not be usable at all. Officials of those countries where the funds may be processed before U.S. dollars are actually received may take those currencies that are not tradable.”

As if this challenge was not enough, the treasury department has the mammoth task of coordinating an efficient and secure method of collecting thousands of dollars from more than 50,000 people during more than one church service and Sabbath school services. For example, the initial Sabbath School offering on July 2 was reported as being U.S. $32,000.

The coordination takes careful planning, precise delegation of responsibilities, audience cooperation, efficient exercise in logistics, and the coordination of 200 to 300 recruited volunteers for each offering, who are in place well in advance.

The security of offering collected, as well as the personnel responsible for collecting, moving those funds to a secure location, and the accounting for those funds, is a priority. Each offering is swiftly taken to a designated location under the scrutiny of selected individuals. The various levels of security controls include the treasury staff, the dome security personnel, General Conference security, and the police department.

Selected individuals on a different team count the offering. There is a distinct separation between the collectors and the accountants. Those who count the offering sacrifice time from family and meetings; especially on Sabbaths when they may be counting all day.