Robert E. Lemon has been the treasurer of the Seventh-day Adventist world church for the last six years. He recently reported tithe takings of $1.78 billion for the last fiscal year – as well as a multimillion “extraordinary tithe”.

In a wide-ranging interview with Spectrum, he shares his insights about how giving trends are changing, how the Church spends its money and why endowments aren’t always a good idea.