St. Mark had a building drive, so they could move the Green Bay and Depere campi together. They failed to get enough money, so that will not happen for now. Apparently the drive took place before the global meltdown.
The building fund did not look too healthy, based on their figures, but that is hard to judge from a distance.
They were willing to let Paul Kelm go back to The Love Shack, which is a big savings in the regular budget.
Here are some general thoughts.
The bigger the congregation, the bigger the budget gap is going to be. St. Mark has a school, so the teacher benefits are going to blossom in the new workers' paradise Obama is planning. No one thinks of lowering taxes and increasing competition, and the current leaders will never bring it up.
Large congregations tend to let staff members go during a recession. That will happen nation-wide. I recall the minister of a huge UCC church telling me what he was going through in 1992. That was nothing compared to the current crisis.
Mega-churches can start losing money fast for many different reasons.
Pastor Rick had terrible offering numbers some time ago. He had them posted. He was behind every single month. He hid the numbers overnight.
