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Boom-Time Loans Cripple Churches

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 14, 2009 6:23 PM CDT

(Newser) – Even houses of worship are facing foreclosures and unpaid bills these days, the AP reports. With credit markets dried up, churches and synagogues—normally rock-solid in recessions—are abandoning half-built properties and scrambling to find a home. "We now have children who don't have classrooms to get into, adults who have to go to an overflow room," one bishop said.

The foreclosure and delinquency rate for churches isn't high—"a noticeable increase," one lender called it—but any uptick stands out, because people still worship in recessions and church staffs can easily be trimmed. Some say the lending boom inspired irresponsible church mortgages. "The starting point was the commercial banks," which made "everybody else move fast and loose," one bond broker said.

The halted construction project for the new Metropolitan Baptist Church stands behind fences in Largo, Md. on Friday, Feb. 20, 2009.
The halted construction project for the new Metropolitan Baptist Church stands behind fences in Largo, Md. on Friday, Feb. 20, 2009.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A sign announcing the Future Home of Metropolitan Baptist Church remains on the site for the halted construction project for the church's planned complex in Largo, Md., Friday, Feb. 20, 2009.
A sign announcing the "Future Home of Metropolitan Baptist Church" remains on the site for the halted construction project for the church's planned complex in Largo, Md., Friday, Feb. 20, 2009.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
wwwonderer
Mar 15, 2009 10:50 PM CDT
Everyone thought things would keep going up. It's easy to say I can't afford a $300K property but if i get a $350K for $300K that's a deal. Consumerism LOVES deals and sales. It not the idea of the cost, it is the idea of the value. So lots of people bought things they couldn't afford, with the premise that it would be of greater value. Salvation is a big business.
wwwonderer
Mar 15, 2009 10:31 PM CDT
Impressing souls is there old standby. It's religions bread and butter. If u can't be impressed with knowledge --I know how God makes the Sun travel around the Earth, and I know how God makes thunder, etc.-- you will DEFINITELY be impressed with stained glass windows, fancy robes, gold crosses, and such. How many peasants would travel on Sunday to see material possessions they could never have. There was no Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous to fantasize about.
Guest
Mar 15, 2009 7:48 AM CDT
Beware: Christian spam.

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