All churches experience the mixed blessing of big givers. In some churches, the person may own the local parts store, or twelve hundred acres of wheat; in others, the person may be vice president of an oil company. In some churches, a person wields power by donating thousands; in others, it may be millions. The amounts vary. The dynamics do not.

How do you treat those who contribute more than others? Michael Tucker, who pastors a church that came into being through large donations, discusses the peculiar factors.

Bethany Community Church exploded into existence. Four families, during the summer of 1977, decided there was a need for a church in this part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. One family donated ten acres of land, and in 120 days the church opened.

That Sunday a full-time pastor welcomed worshipers to a six-hundred-seat sanctuary, educational rooms, fellowship areas, a nursery, offices, and a gym-in all, twenty-nine thousand square feet of buildings linked by manicured lawns and ...