For him, it all added up

Young Chang

Warren Piper was one of two people at Harbor Christian Church who

knew how much money congregants gave.

He kept track of people’s financial pledges and was the sole guy

responsible for counting the total offerings and depositing them into

the bank.

Having served as the church’s financial secretary for the last 10

to 15 years (Piper is so used to the task he doesn’t remember how

long it’s been exactly), the longtime volunteer retired late last

month because his eyesight is failing, which means working with

numbers gets tiring.

“I have been told that I have macular degeneration, which makes

it difficult to focus on ordinary print and that sort of thing,”

said the 74-year-old Huntington Beach resident.

For the church, Piper’s absence as financial secretary means it is

losing someone greatly trusted.

“It’s a very important position,” Pastor Dennis Short said.

“It’s very confidential, as well as precise and time consuming.”

The church staff is looking for someone new, but in the meantime

held a big celebration of Piper’s many years of service on Sunday.

Piper joined the church about 15 years ago. Piper admitted that,

in the beginning, , he was flattered the church trusted him with

matters as big as money.

“And it was a little scary, if I stopped to think about it,” he

said. “We don’t have somebody standing guard over every step of the

operation.”

His volunteer duties throughout the years included gathering

people’s financial offerings, counting the sum and depositing the

money in the bank. He wrote financial reports every month for church

leaders to read during board meetings, and he sent out letters

quarterly to congregants who had made pledges to the church.

Piper added that these reports gave people the “straight scoop”

and helped them when it came to filing tax reports.

He retired eight years ago from his job as a document control

supervisor for a manufacturing company, which gave him more time to

give to the church. Piper said volunteering is important to him

because it’s part of being responsible.

“The people that I most admired were always volunteering for

various things besides just going to church,” he said. “I felt if I

weren’t doing something like that, that I wasn’t doing my share.”

Piper said the only thing tiring about his job was balancing

things out and then trying to figure out why one set of numbers

didn’t match another.

“But I’ve always liked working with numbers, and I also became

enamored with computers when they came into being, and computers and

numbers fit together,” he said.

Piper, also a former elder at the church, will continue attending

Harbor Christian as a member.

“He’s been a very significant member and quiet leader,” Short

said.

* YOUNG CHANG is a reporter with Times Community News. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4268 or by e-mail at young.chang@latimes.com.