Church & Monies

Doug and I received a letter and pledge card in the mail from our local church. We hardly ever go to church anymore, but my parents were still going to church there. The church recently built a brand new Life Center, which is humongous and fancy, full of classrooms, meeting space, and a lovely basketball court with pecan floors (the kind you're not supposed to wear street shoes on). I realize that building these types of shiny new places is not uncommon in churches, so let me give you some back story on this particular congregation. My parents (in their late fifties) are among the youngest people in the congregation. There is a handful of 40-somethings, but most of the people in this church are well into their retirement. The congregation obviously needs to work on their outreach to young people, including their children's programs (Sunday school, preschool, etc.). So, this new building project was initiated out of that "Build it and they will Come" mentality. The capital campaigning began, and lots of money was raised. The original project plans included three buildings, to be constructed over the course of several years. Of course, it would make sense to start with the smallest, least expensive building, but that's not what happened. The finance committee decided to build the largest, most expensive building first. This building would cost four times the amount that had been raised during the campaign. Four times! My dad, an accountant, was on the finance committee and warned the other committee members that the housing market bubble was on the brink of bursting, and that this project would put the church in way over its head financially. No one listened, and dad was actually made to feel like he didn't have enough faith in God....that he needed to trust that God would lead them all through this project. Well, they went ahead with the 4.5 million dollar building. And then the economy took a harsh nosedive, as we all know. Parishioners were and still are losing their jobs left and right, and are struggling to pay their bills, and of course, their pledge amounts. Then we all get the letter stating that we need to do what we can to give more money, because the monthly note is $28,ooo (interest only). $28,000. A MONTH! That's more than I've been making in a year, people. And this is a really small church...no Joel Osteen mega-church. And not only are they begging for money, they're telling us that we need to give up our Starbucks and our eating out so that we can give more. No, thank you. You were irresponsible with the money we gave you, we're not giving up our earned indulgences so that you can have more money. There's a story in the letter about how, were it not for the people who continued to tithe during the Great Depression, the orphans at Wilmer Hall would have been cold and hungry. WTF? We're not talking about people's lives here. We're not talking about giving more money so that children can have food and clothing. Hello? We're talking about unnecessary basketball courts with pecan floors and classrooms that are hardly being used, and building a Life Center that we don't need. Don't pull the orphan card on me, sir. So now, all the other annual church fundraisers have to give the money they raise (that should go to missions) to the building fund. Way to set an example. I am so disappointed and downright disgusted that this has happened. The church should be teaching people about managing their money responsibly, and now that the economy has gone to shit, we should be offering free spaghetti dinners once a week or something to help families who've lost part of their income. But no. We're asking people to give what little they have left so that we don't drown in this ridiculous debt. I'm sick over it.