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Calif. Megachurch Pastor Asks for Urgent Donations
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 30, 2009
Filed at 11:28 p.m. ET
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (AP) -- Evangelical pastor Rick Warren is begging parishioners at his Southern California megachurch to cough up $900,000 before Jan. 1 to keep the parish out of the red.
In an urgent letter posted on the Saddleback Church Web site on Wednesday, Warren says expenses are up because parishioners are out of work and ''the bottom dropped out'' when year-end donations dropped dramatically.
He asks parishioners to donate before the new year to keep the Orange County church out of debt.
A spokeswoman for Warren said the church does not release financial details, so it's difficult to put the $900,000 shortfall in context.
Warren delivered the invocation at the inauguration of President Barack Obama and is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling "The Purpose Driven Life."
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/30/us/AP-US-REL-Rick-Warren-Donations.html“Dear Saddleback Family THIS IS AN URGENT LETTER unlike any I’ve written in 30 years. Please read all of it and get back to me in the next 48 hours.
“I have thrilling news to share with you below but first some seriously bad news: With 10% of our church family out of work due to the recession, our expenses in caring for our community in 2009 rose dramatically while our income stagnated. Still, with wise management, we’ve stayed close to our budget all year. Then… this last weekend the bottom dropped out.
“On the last weekend of 2009, our total offerings were less than half of what we normally receive - leaving us $900,000 in the red for the year, unless you help make up the difference today and tomorrow.”
http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2009/12/30/pastor-rick-warren-urgently-asks-faithful-for-900000/48235/
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