Churches Find End Is Nigh

[HarveyDarkey]

The Number of Religious Facilities Unable to Pay Their Mortgage Is Surging

By SHELLY BANJO

ROSEVILLE, Calif.—Residential and commercial real-estate owners aren't the only ones losing their properties to foreclosure. The past few years have seen a rapid acceleration in the number of churches losing their sanctuaries because they can't pay the mortgage.

Just as homeowners borrowed too much or built too big during boom times, many churches did the same and now are struggling as their congregations shrink and collections fall owing to rising unemployment and a weak economy.

Since 2008, nearly 200 religious facilities have been foreclosed on by banks, up from eight during the previous two years and virtually none in the decade before that, according to real-estate services firm CoStar Group, Inc. Analysts and bankers say hundreds of additional churches face financial struggles so severe they could face foreclosure or bankruptcy in the near future.

"Churches are the next wave in this economic crisis," says Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., president and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a non-profit civil-rights group, who works with pastors around the country to help churches negotiate better terms with their bankers.

Religious denominations of all kinds have suffered in recent years as donations have declined, with many Catholic parishes closing and synagogues merging their congregations. But the property-financing problems have been concentrated among independent churches, which while seeking to expand lack a governing body to serve as a backstop to financial hardship.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704115404576096151214141820.html

[rurallib]

1. get the congress to allow weed as a sacramental offering

well - you all can figure out the rest.

[peacebird]

2. boo-freaking-hoo...

[Canuckistanian]

3. They must not be working hard enough

Despite decades of entitlements of being tax-free.

How sad.

[HarveyDarkey]

8. Or praying hard enough

or something to that effect.

[orwell]

4. They need to...

...pull themselves up by their bootstraps, work harder, smarter.

Don't look to the evil "gubmint" for handouts.

Pray more and spend less.

SkyGod© will provide!

(It must be an evil "Muslin" plot...)

[fascisthunter]

5. the Lord works in mysterious ways

[Earth_First]

6. That's okay, they are being 'raptured' soon anyways,,,

You cant take it with you afterall...

:eyes:

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Didn't you all get the feeling that all this glut of churches was just a business?

[Caretha]

9. I knew there was silver lining somewher in this cloud

always is :)