Let us now pray: Church mortgage delinquencies on the rise
Sounds like it might be time to pass the hat again. Many churches are having trouble paying their debts. Bloomberg recently profiled the Evangelical Christian Credit Union, which has written some $3 billion worth of church mortgages over the past ten years. Unfortunately, the combination of payments that rise when rates adjust and less money to make those payments is hitting churches hard, and many of them are defaulting. Roughly 145 churches have had to declare bankruptcy because they couldn't make their mortgage payments. Evangelical Christian's percentage of delinquencies has doubled since 2007. The company steered its clients into commercial mortgages that were similar to the deals many Americans struck on their home loans, with lower initial payments that would balloon after a period of years. Many of these institutions refinanced in order to expand or renovate their facilities. At the time, this arrangement was a cheaper way for churches to access money than holding bond sales; in addition, churches were often approved to borrow more money than they could have raised via more traditional -- and perhaps less risky -- methods.
Unfortunately, when those monthly payments came due, churches -- like homeowners -- couldn't refinance because of the credit crunch and were stuck with the higher bills. Since many parishioners are in the same boat, houses of worship can't rely on increased donations to help make up for the shortfall.
Previously, churches had been considered a very safe bet for lenders, but now one analyst cited by Bloomberg said church foreclosures are at a 20-year high. For its part, Evangelical Christian says its finances are healthy in spite of the uptick in foreclosures.
Some might say that the real losers in all of this are the parishioners of all those financially-troubled churches.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
11-23-2009 @ 8:22PM
Evelyn said...
Maybe next time the Bible is 'revised' the tithe amount should be upped from 10-20%.
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11-23-2009 @ 8:52PM
April said...
Or maybe people could just start tithing and then the church wouldn't be in this mess.
The problem is that most people are not tithing. When I tithe it seems my life is more financially stable. God takes care of you when you trust him.
11-24-2009 @ 1:32AM
bellered said...
Or maybe a church should depend on its congregants, and not a bank. Building a bigger church before donations allow you to do so is putting the cart before the horse, and the kind of nonsensical, short-sighted move endemic in our culture.
Maybe the churches that went for balloon ARMs were hoping the rapture would arrive before that rate adjustment, eh?
11-23-2009 @ 8:19PM
trent said...
O yeah,,,, I love it!!! Those creepy born-again cultist in your face freeks. Let em go down !!
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11-23-2009 @ 8:27PM
Bridget said...
Well thats what happens when chruches forget they dont need a HUGE BEAUTIFUL building to Worship, you can worship the loard ne where, yes having a church is great i dont mean they dont need a building but some of these buildings churches have are just ridiculous in size and in the way they look its almost like there more worried about how their church looks then how they serve god!
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11-23-2009 @ 8:27PM
dr.sausage said...
DO LIKE THE GHETTO, GET A STOREFRONT CHURCH.JESU'S CHURCH WAS AN OPEN FIELD.MAYBE GOD JWH DON'T PLAY ALL THAT PALACIAL BLING BLING.I WAS THROWN OUT OF AN ITALIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY BECAUSE "I WASN;T A MEMBER THERE".
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11-23-2009 @ 9:05PM
Cheryl said...
Well, aren't the people suppose to pay 10% of their earnings to God, to up keep the church, like utilities etc., The sad part about this is, They get on tv, taliking about, "if you give to them, you'll be blessed but, that's not true, if they give anyone, all the money that was given to them then, we'll all be blessed. Look at how, they live and dress. How many of us. live in mansions and drive fancy cars? I don't. Tithe's are to paid to the church you attend where ever one lives if they are in church and not to these greedy tv, Evangelist. God say, ask, and it shall be given, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and the doors shall be open. So, they need to apply this to their lives and, beleive because, they, must have faith!
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11-24-2009 @ 12:04AM
Dyane said...
I glad that you read some scriputres in the bible ; however you need to read them all. If the people at the pastor church want to buy them a house clothes or car get mad at the people not the pastor all churches have by laws that they go by and is set up by the PEOPLE also read your BIBLE some more you will find that the scripture reads that the servant is worthy of his hire if you really went to church you would have learned that at church because your pasotr would have taught you that verse so that you would understand that people bless the pastor with what he has he cannot pay himself that is against the law. so go to church and you will not make these kind of statememts
11-24-2009 @ 12:49AM
Mary said...
Tithing was part of the old Law covenant of the Jews prior to Jesus Christ. The Bible states that this Law was "a tutor leading to Christ," (Galatians 3:24, 25) and when Jesus died, then the purpose of the Law was fulfilled. Therefore, Christians are not bound by the Jewish Law, which included tithing. If they were, it would be necessary to do far more than merely give ten percent of their income. It would necessitate making trips to Jerusalem periodically to observe the festivals and sacrifices, and to live by the whole of the Law, including the stoning of homosexuals, adulterers, murderers, etc.
When this question arose in Jesus' day, he spoke of the widow who gave "everything she had," which was way more than the requisite "ten per-cent." If you're bound by God to give ten per-cent, why limit yourself to that? Do you not believe that you owe your very life and all you have to God as well? So why stop at ten?
If you explore the whole of the Greek scriptures you will find many places where it talks about giving. The lesson from the Christian Greek scriptures regarding giving is that it is not done grudgingly, but from the heart. The widow's gift was not about money, it was about giving from a heart full of appreciation for God and Jesus and of brotherly love.
11-23-2009 @ 8:42PM
Terri Davis said...
As a Christan I believe that we need to continue to pray for churches to be financed. It is not so much about this huge beautiful building. It is just a place to worship Jesus and to listen to the word of God.
It is not about being a freak it is about knowing that there is ONLY ONE way to get to heaven and this believing with all your heart that Jesus is the SON of God and he came NOT to comdem the world but to save it.
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11-23-2009 @ 10:19PM
Denzil said...
I happen to be one of those "creepy born again cultists." I have been on of those for nearly 50 years. I have known many of those "cultists" during my lifetime. I have yet to meet or associate with an evangelical Christian who isn't dedicated to his/her faith, works hard to raise good kids, and strives to be a good citizen. That said....Churches are not buildings. A building is a meeting place. The "church" is the membership inside the building. I do believe some congregations get overly ambitious and try to accomplish too much too soon. Loan money has been easy to get and has made it easy for congregations to overspend on buildings. I believe we should have nice, comfortable buildings, but there is little or no need to build palaces that are not only expensive to build but are terribly expensive to maintain. Maybe this will be good in the long run. We are admonished to be "good stewards" of the blessings we have.
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11-23-2009 @ 8:44PM
Jay said...
I knew there was a reason I believed in God but not in churches. 40 years ago I can remember sitting in church listening to the minister telling us how we all needed to give more: every single week. I see more of God in a sunrise or the eye of a trout than I do sitting around with a bunch of see-and-be-seen hypocrites. The Mongols had the right idea: the reason they destroyed "houses of worship" was because they thought it was blasphemous to try and cage God up. He is everywhere and doesn't need for me to make an appointment to show up at a specific place at a specific time.
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11-23-2009 @ 8:52PM
April said...
God is everywhere. It is important to get together as his people and teach and be taught and strengthened. It's nice to be a part of something good. Not all churches are good. But a lot of them are, its just that the church is not functioning the way it should. Mostly because of people that have so much to give (gifts) who just dont reach their full potential.
God knows what he's doing, it's us that are messing things up.
11-24-2009 @ 10:11AM
ed said...
MAYBE IF ALL THESE CHURCHES STOPPED SPENDING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FIGHTING EQUAL RIGHTS FOR EVERYONE, THEY WOULD HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY THIER FREAKIN MORTGAGES
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11-23-2009 @ 9:02PM
Bud said...
If even half of the church members tithed there would be no financial problems. I was on the office staff of a large evangelical church (well, it was large at the time--this goes back more than 45 years). With around 700 attending Sunday School, fewer than a dozen families were providing approximately 90% of the church's financial support. There was a large, new/remodeled building, and half the weekly tithes and offerings went to the mortgage payment.
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12-02-2009 @ 9:35AM
Robert said...
Well...............
Looks like they bit off more than they could chew.
Perhaps when they are foreclosed they will be replaced with Walmarts.....
Really, what a waste of money building these Tower of Babel buildings and claiming that you are doing the " Lords Work " while being told what to do, how to do it, and when.
And if you don't you will go straight to Hell.
Step right up folks, drop your greenbacks and stand in line to get your ticket to heaven.
By the way do we have any co-signers in the audience?
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11-23-2009 @ 9:08PM
1OFGODSOWN said...
The CHURCH is NOT the BUILDING.,The CHURCH is THE PEOPLE of GOD.GOD is IN CONTROL & HIS WORD will continue being spread by his CHOSEN ONES.For those who do NOT believe you LOSE EVERYTHING if your are WRONG & for those who BELIEVE we LOSE NOTHING if we're WRONG.Is your ETERNITY worth being WRONG.You see "HELL" is "REAL" & you would be so FOOLISH as to make that YOUR FINAL ANSWER? ETERNITY IS A VERY LONG TIME MY FRIEND!!! It's YOUR CHOICE so GOD is NOT sending ANYONE ANYWHERE "EXCEPT" where they made the CHOICE to spent ETERNITY.I PRAY you make the "RIGHT CHOICE".JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!
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11-27-2009 @ 6:01PM
JCISCOMINGSOON said...
Trent and Jay : One day soon and very soon Jesus is going to come back riding a white horse appearing on a cloud and coming
from the East. When that day or night comes you two will wish you had believed in Jesus Christ. Because you will be judged for your works for Our Lord and Saviuor Jesus Christ. After the judgement you're going to be cast into the lake of fire or Hell as the Bible calls it and your soul is going to burn all throughout eternity and that's forever and ever and ever. So you need to get on your knees and ask God to forgive you of all your sins and go and sin no more!
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11-23-2009 @ 9:19PM
John said...
if they'd spend less time blasting homosexuals and abortion clinics, maybe they'd be able to spend more time raising money.. but I don't care,let them eat cake....holier than thou, hateful bigots...they shouldn't be tax exempt either!
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11-24-2009 @ 3:18AM
Destiny said...
Thats ok John we love you too.