Churches take in less, give out more

When it goes bad for you, it usually goes bad for your pastor, too.

With parishioners facing job losses, home foreclosures and other economic distress, some suburban pastors also are feeling the crunch, pointing to fewer donations - money they need to stay afloat.

In 16 years leading St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Algonquin, the Rev. Michael Tierney said he has never seen it this bad.

More and more people are asking his church for help with food and household bills in what analysts are calling the worst economic crisis to grip the nation since the Great Depression.

But St. Margaret Mary, with 13,000 to 14,000 members, cannot offer as much help because it doesn't have the money to do so.

"I think people generally see church contributions and even tuition sometimes as things that aren't the necessities of life," said Tierney, who also oversees St. Margaret Mary Catholic School. "You have to be able to pay the heat and the gas and you have to have food - and we understand that."

The situation is an example of what many churches across the suburbs are facing, as the economy creates more demands on religious organizations yet decreases donations.

At St. Margaret Mary, donations are down 15 percent from last year, forcing officials to dip into a savings account to cover salaries and other expenses.

But when the church robs Peter to pay Paul, that leaves less money in the account to pay off one important asset - the school.

Seven years ago, the church bought the building from Community Unit District 300, borrowing $3.4 million it needed from the Rockford Diocese.

For the past few months, the church has been making only $15,000 in monthly interest payments - about half of what it had - on the remaining $2.4 million debt, because it cannot afford to pay the full amount, Tierney said.

"This can't continue forever, so we are looking at the unfortunate possibility of cutting programs and staff in the future if the economy doesn't get better at the church," he said.

"We had put money away in a savings account for a rainy day," Tierney said. "And I'm afraid that rainy day is here."

Billions lost

One out of every five households has reduced the amount of money it gives to churches, according to a study by the Barna Group, a California organization that researches church trends.

And 22 percent have stopped giving completely.

All told, the economic downturn will cost church officials between $3 billion and $5 billion in the final quarter of the year - a time churches usually expect to cash in because of the holiday season, the study says.

Leaders at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Elgin and St. Michael Catholic Church in Wheaton have taken a wait-and-see approach when it comes to reducing staff.

St. Thomas More is the Catholic church closest to new and more affluent residents of Elgin. But it's still watching every dollar.

Sunday donations, which fund every aspect of the church, are slightly down, said church pastor, the Rev. Geoffrey Wirth. Right now, the church has enough money to cover the 60 people it employs at the church and neighboring school.

But officials don't know how long that's going to last.

"There's a big question over us: How is this going to impact the way we budget?" Wirth said. "It will go into 2009 and beyond."

On the upside, people have found new ways to offer help. Many are answering the church's call for food donations, which then get moved to food banks in danger of shutting down.

"I see a more positive response in that area from our community," Wirth said.

At the 10,000-member St. Michael's, officials have told church and school staffers "that if they can live without it, don't buy it," said the Rev. Don McLaughlin, the church's pastor.

There is a $41,000 hole in the church's budget and leaders are looking at ways to trim expenses on utilities and equipment maintenance by using companies that offer lower rates, McLaughlin said.

They're also asking school employees to curtail purchases of supplies.

Doing so is essential, because the church still owes $200,000 on its $14 million new church. In 2002, a fire ravaged the old church making a new church essential.

Officials said they hope the cost-cutting measures don't include layoffs.

"In faith, we always look forward," McLaughlin said.

A silver lining

Still, some churches are bucking the trend.

Second Baptist Church in Elgin, for example, is flush with cash, said the Rev. Nathaniel Edmond, its pastor.

The oldest black church in the city has not seen a slowdown in the number of financial donations and, in fact, is over its 2007 numbers, he said.

The church is doing so well that it paid $150,000 to upgrade the worship space inside its $3.5 million addition.

Edmond also recently returned from an eight-day excursion to Israel, a $5,000 trip that the church, founded by ex-slaves in 1866, paid for.

Second Baptist is prepared to pay the tab for similar trips its members might have, much like it did a few years ago when it sent one of its teenage parishioners to Australia on a student ambassador excursion - that trip cost $5,400.

"It's a real blessing and we don't take it for granted." Edmond said. "We praise God for what we do."

The church's pastor of nearly nine years attributes Second Baptist's strong financial standing to ongoing growth - the church this year added 200 new parishioners to its rolls, for a total of 1,800 members - and the diverse income levels of its parishioners, which includes everyone from low-income people to vice presidents of corporations.

That doesn't mean people aren't hurting.

Edmond said he notices a slight increase in the number of people who need money to help pay household bills.

Although church officials anticipate 2009 will be relatively flat, there should be enough money to help its members in need.

"We're excited and we pray that we finish 2008 strong," Edmond said.

Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington has been lucky as well.

The 18,000-member church is ahead of budget, thanks to a challenge that was tied to its 33rd anniversary, said David Briggs, director of the Good Sense Ministry that advises people on how to get out of debt and live within their means.

Members were asked to give more than usual - whether it was time or money - if they felt their commitment to the church had slipped.

Many responded with cash.

"The challenge was not a challenge that we needed the money," Briggs said.

"It was for individual people to recognize that, biblically speaking, generosity is a huge thing that God calls on us to display."

The need has manifested itself in another way at the church. More and more people have signed up for the budget seminars and workshops Briggs runs at the church.

As the economy worsens, those numbers are expected to go up.

"I expect 2009 will be a very, very busy year," Briggs said.