The Lord giveth and the bank taketh away — at least, that is what a lot of churches have found recently. Lenders foreclosed on about 100 churches last year, an enormous increase from just a few years ago.
It suggests even doing God's work does not always keep the creditors away.
For Dan Burr, the road to losing his church last year began with the greatest of hopes. Twelve years ago, Burr and his wife started to worship with a few friends in their son's house in Fontana, Calif., a community about 80 miles East of Los Angeles. Neighbors began to come to the service. They brought their kids.
"And it began to grow, and before we knew it we had a little viable church," Burr recalls.
Eventually Crossroads Community Church bought a building of its own — a dilapidated Boy's Club that church members fixed up themselves. Those were the glory days. Fontana was one of the fastest growing cities in the country, church attendance was booming and Burr began to make big plans.
"We were looking at [buying] vast tracks of land, building family community centers, day care and youth centers," he says, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. "We were going to really going to do this! It was great — and then BAM!" The economic bottom fell out, and members started losing their jobs.
"First, one in 10, then one in eight, then one in six of our wage earners was out of work. They just couldn't find work," Burr says.
Church offerings dropped 20 to 25 percent. The church cut staff, trimmed programs to the bone, but finally, it simply couldn't pay the mortgage. A year ago, it gave the building back to the bank. Now members are renting it until the bank finds a buyer and Crossroads is starting over.
