# Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren Asks for Urgent Donations



## Blake Bowden (Jan 1, 2010)

Gotta love mega "Churches"....


AKE FOREST, California â€”  Evangelical pastor Rick Warren appealed to parishioners at his California megachurch Wednesday to help fill a $900,000 deficit by the first of the year.

Warren made the appeal in a letter posted on the Saddleback Church Web site. It begins "Dear Saddleback Family, THIS IS AN URGENT LETTER."

"With 10 percent of our church family out of work due to the recession, our expenses in caring for our community in 2009 rose dramatically while our income stagnated," the letter reads.

Still, Warren said the church managed to stay within its budget, but "the bottom dropped out" when Christmas donations dropped. "On the last weekend of 2009, our total offerings were less than half of what we normally receive â€” leaving us $900,000 in the red for the year," the letter reads.

"It's basically having to do more with less," church spokesman A. Larry Ross said. "The seasonal Christmas offering was down significantly and, commensurately, the need for services the church is expected to provide is up," Ross said.

Warren's appeal presents an opportunity for those who haven't been hit by the recession to step up and help, Ross said.

The letter details some of the church's accomplishments in 2009 and where the donations would be used, including the church's food pantry, homeless ministry, counseling and support groups. It then lists three ways parishioners can make their donations.

Warren was named the top newsmaker of the year by the Religion Newswriters Association. He gained attention with his invocation at the inauguration of President Barack Obama and comments in the aftermath of California's Proposition 8, which overturned gay marriage. Warren also gained attention for his work in Africa involving AIDS relief and other humanitarian activities.

Warren is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling "The Purpose Driven Life."

He founded Saddleback Church in 1980 in Lake Forest, southeast of Los Angeles

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581572,00.html?test=latestnews


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## RedTemplar (Jan 1, 2010)

Why don't Pastor Rick write a book about it.


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## Blake Bowden (Jan 1, 2010)

I actually enjoyed his book, but good grief. Why couldn't he help the very church he founded? So it's okay to solicit funds from the congregation but not himself? Never been a fan of mega churches .


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## Traveling Man (Jan 1, 2010)

Maybe he shouldn't have wasted all the churches money on becoming embroiled in politics. Not to worry they'll get a bailout along with their tax exemption. (If they donate before the first of January, coincidence, not)!
Is this a great country or what?


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## HKTidwell (Jan 1, 2010)

Somewhere I had heard this and so I did a little research(wikipedia) to confirm it before I misstated things.

Rick Warren - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Warren
"Due to the success of his book sales, in 2005 Warren returned his 25 years of salary to the church and discontinued taking a salary. He says he and his wife became "reverse tithers", giving away 90% of their income and living off 10%"

Not a huge fan of his but this does speak a little about his character.


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## Blake Bowden (Jan 2, 2010)

Kudos if it's true.


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## Traveling Man (Jan 2, 2010)

HKTidwell said:


> Not a huge fan of his but this does speak a little about his character.


 
But he still uses his church to PUSH his politics, and for that; his church, their parishoners should all lose their tax exempt status.


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## drapetomaniac (Jan 2, 2010)

I belong to a very large church and honestly have a problem with it.  A single church doesn't need to be a monolithic presence and grow from one single source of leadership.  

Is a megachurch too big to fail?


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## Traveling Man (Jan 2, 2010)

drapetomaniac said:


> Is a megachurch too big to fail?



It may be if the C-i-C invites THIS preacher to give the invocation at his inauguration... VBG


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## HKTidwell (Jan 2, 2010)

I happen to not have an issue with people of a Church pushing politics.  I do have a issue with Churches pushing politics, so if a church had a requirement to vote for a certain person I would have an issue with it.  At the same time if a Church says this person best represents the views of our church I have no issue with it.  I think it is a fine line.

The argument could also be made that anybody that operates a not for profit if they embrace any type of political idea they should loose there tax exempt status.  ie Global warming activist, environmentalist, Pro-life groups, unions(they use membership to form a PAC), etc....  Where do you draw the line of bringing like minded people to making a difference.


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## Traveling Man (Jan 2, 2010)

HKTidwell said:


> The argument could also be made that anybody that operates a not for profit if they embrace any type of political idea they should loose there tax exempt status.  ie Global warming activist, environmentalist, Pro-life groups, unions(they use membership to form a PAC), etc....  Where do you draw the line of bringing like minded people to making a difference.



Okay, here is where that line should be drawn... (SCOTUS agrees too)!

It does however everything to do with candidates, preachers etc. (as in pimping ones church) and foisting their agenda upon others, whether it be climate change, abortion, wealth redistribution etc. This should include any form of  proselytization (churches, pastors etc.) as the origination of the gratis exemption and the intention that churches contributed or were “the charity” that helped the community (read local, not the overseas missions used for proselytizing). A lot has changed since then, now we have mega-churches as well as other churches that have vast holdings in real estate and capital ventures that use these exemptions to escape paying taxes. The quote of “rendering unto Caesar…” is laughable. There has been documented cases where “donations” made to become an “elder” with 90% kickbacks to the donors for the tax write offs for both parties. And we worry about the money changers?

The SCOTUS has ruled that no provision for these exemptions exist. And with local coffers hurting as they are today, I say let’s be done with this charade. Not only should they not be exempt from income taxes, they should not be exempt from real estate taxes. And not being a hypocrite, I think it was preposterous that (we as) Texas Masons ask for and were granted a real estate exemption.

This may come across as harsh and maybe even offensive but as we shall soon see these abuses must stop. But before anyone thinks I’m goring their ox, think of this means test; how much enumerated value does your tax exempt organization contribute to your local community? Some food for thought…


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## JTM (Jan 5, 2010)

drapetomaniac said:


> Is a megachurch too big to fail?


 i just spit up my coffee.


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## owls84 (Jan 5, 2010)

Oh side note: He got it and then some ..!

Click to Read This


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## Blake Bowden (Jan 6, 2010)

Business is BOOMING!


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## JTM (Jan 6, 2010)

what a shame.


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