This is just out today from the Wall Street Journal (via the Baltimore Sun). Churches that have gone into debt now find that they can’t pay it off. Unfortunately, like other corporations, non-profits and individuals they are turning to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection for relief.
“We are seeing more stress in churches than we have in modern history,” says Mark G. Holbrook, president and chief executive of the Evangelical Christian Credit Union of Brea, Calif., which specializes in lending to churches. The credit union has moved to foreclose on seven of its 2,000 member churches this year, and Holbrook says he expects to take similar action against two more next year. Before now, it had foreclosed on only two churches in its 45-year history.
Church Mortgage & Loan Corp. of Maitland, Fla., another church lender, foreclosed on 10 church properties in the past couple of years. Unable to sell any of them, the company didn’t have the funds to pay more than 400 bondholders the estimated $18 million it owes, says company lawyer Elizabeth Green. Church Mortgage filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March.
Apparently, size doesn’t matter — the mega churches seem to be the ones that are at the top of the bankruptcy risk pool of churches.
“The borrower is slave to the lender.” – Prov. 22:7
It’s true even for churches.
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Wow, what a sad statistic. But when you involve snakes you are bound to get bit. It’s sad how people who are in debt are attending churches who are in debt and we attend church where the big “Price” has already been paid. There’s a sermon in there somewhere. Thanks for sharing Jesse, Fabian