CHURCHES RELY ON THEIR FAITH
By Jason Wells

Glendale News Press
October 24, 2008 10:52 PM PDT
CA

>From investments to parishioners in need, places of worship find they
also need help.

GLENDALE — When the economy turns south, belts tighten, and for many
Glendale churches that rely almost entirely on their congregants for
financial support, the debilitating effects have begun.

Churches receive no government funding, so what happens to the
congregation happens to the institution. There are no bailouts, no
interventions from City Hall to boost subsidies — just faith-driven
donations from church-goers who, given recent economic events, may
have seen their 401(k)s evaporate, lost a job or experienced the
effects of inflation.

As a result, churches large and small are grappling with anemic
donation levels against increased demand for help. Many are simply
treading water, hoping the down economy will turn. Others are already
making plans to restructure and make budget cuts. And some have been
caught completely off guard, finding themselves ill-prepared to help
a deluge of distressed parishioners.

"We’re trying to survive, day by day," said the Rev. Vazken Atmajian,
senior pastor at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the
largest Armenian churches in Glendale.

Strain on the church has come mostly in the form of its parishioners,
many of whom have suffered heavy losses in the stock market or
are unable to get a financial foothold in the depressed economy,
Atmajian said.

"We hear stories on a daily basis; it’s heartbreaking," he said.

In better times, St. Mary’s would have been able to offer comprehensive
support, but not now, Atmajian said. Some congregants are being
referred to the Armenian Relief Society or other nonprofits for
assistance.

"We didn’t have any plans," he said. "Everything was rosy and fine. No
one could have known."

Some churches are experiencing the effects of the recent market
turmoil in ways that will require a total reorganization.

First United Methodist Church of Glendale has seen a significant
decline in the value of its investment portfolio, forcing the church to
undergo a painful round of budget cuts, the Rev. Richard Garner said.

A $17-million market investment made in 2006 after a property sell-off
is now down 16%, choking a valuable revenue stream, Garner said.

As the church prepares to adopt a new budget for Jan. 1, administrators
will likely have to cut back 12% to 15%, he said.

Although he declined to say what form those cutbacks would take,
Garner said the economic pressures come as the congregation was already
planning to reposition its ministry to focus more on holistic healing
and community outreach.

"We will work through this and find our way into the future doing
ministry that is just as significant for the people who do it as it
is for the people who receive it," he said.

Even for churches that have so far managed to escape any major
financial hit, long-term forecasts are looking darker.

Glendale Presbyterian Church shares its campus with two other
congregations that contribute to help offset maintenance and operations
costs. The church even has an endowment fund that acts as a "little
bit of a financial cushion," said the church’s senior pastor, the
Rev. Craig Hall.

Still, there’s a desire among church officials to look at next fiscal
year "more realistically," instead of assuming tithing levels will
remain at current levels, he added.

"We’re really looking the other way and coming up with contingency
plans based on the fact that we don’t know," Hall said.

Smaller churches, like the 100-member Light on the Corner Church in
Montrose, may have less to worry about in terms of asset management
and declining investment returns, but they are nonetheless vulnerable,
said the church’s pastor, Jon Karn.

The church encourages a "holy boldness" about giving and has so far not
seen tithing or donations drop among a relatively modest congregation,
he said.

"And we are rejoicing in the Lord about that," Karn said.

It is that religious commitment, the power of faith, that puts the
long-term viability of churches and their ministries in a unique
position during economic downturns, religious leaders said. Despite
the current economic worries, pastors said more and more congregations
no longer see tithing as a discretionary expense due to their faith
in a church’s ministry.

The days of religious consumerism or people dropping in for Sunday
sermons when times get tough "are long, long past," Hall said. "It’s
an important part of their lives, so they’ll do whatever they can to
keep it going."