Across the United States mega-churches are melting as the global financial crisis applies a blowtorch to their business structures.
There have already been foreclosures and evictions, while in December " after a year long US Senate Finance Committee investigation into possible financial irregularities " televangelists Kenneth Copeland, Eddie Long and Creflo Dollar were placed on a list of risky organisations for donors.
The highest profile victim is the Crystal Cathedral, a Hollywood-esque edifice Cecil B DeMille would be proud of, crumbling under the weight of debt. This mammoth church was the iconic base for Robert Schuller's infamous brand of schmaltzy, therapeutic Christianity. It is recognisable around the globe with Schuller's services beamed via the Hour of Power broadcast into lounge rooms worldwide for more than three decades.
The giant glass-walled mega-church is certainly a parable of televangelist excess. Yet the Crystal Cathedral's collapse may also hold lessons for churches closer to home who have debts looming on their horizon. Local churches that are going through a period of flux " including major capital projects " are especially vulnerable during this recession.
Meanwhile, Robert H Schuller watches the financial crisis bulldoze his life's work. His son and recent successor, Robert A Schuller, abruptly resigned last month as senior pastor, with some insiders saying the son did not have a grip on managing the business side of the church. Now the Crystal Cathedral is being forced to sell more than $65 million worth of its Californian property to pay off debt, says Associated Press.
The Crystal Cathedral blames the recession for its woes. There is truth in this. Schuller's careful leadership transition has been derailed by an unexpectedly severe recession in the US.
"A difficult road' for Broadway
St Barnabas', Broadway, is large by Sydney Anglican standards, but it is no mega-church. And it certainly has nothing in common with the prosperity-style televangelists.
However, the stress on its ministry will be equally exacerbated by the current financial crisis.
So it's no surprise that the Rev Ian Powell, rector of the university-connected parish, admits they have "a difficult road ahead'.
It has been one heartbreaking year after another for the parish.
In 2006 a devastating fire destroyed the 150-year-old church building, leading to an "exciting but stressful' period for the parish leadership of finding a temporary church home, architectural tenders and local council development applications.
And after 18 months of personal turmoil, Mr Powell has announced he will "reluctantly' resign by the end of the year after the breakdown of his marriage.
"We are hoping to launch the fundraising soon. It has been terribly slowed down by my dramas, which have distracted the parish leadership big-time," he said. "The main thing that the [recession] does is stop you from thinking "we can do this' and "God will help', to thinking "this is a complete joke " there is no way we can pull this off'. It has to be a God thing.
"A few of us have been talking about Gideon and the way God takes a perfectly useful army and cuts it down to a size which is absurd, so it will be crystal clear that when the money comes through it is a miracle."
Added to all this is the possibility the stockmarket crash, which has hit the diocesan endowment hard, will threaten university chaplaincy grants next year and lead to redundancies at St Barnabas'. Mr Powell says the recession is teaching them what it really means to be reliant on God.
"I think often you think you are reliant on God but you are a bit cocky about the systems you've got in place," he says. "I tested a few ex-Barney's people way back when we were thinking about the size of the building we might try and put up" to work out what was a semi-realistic thing to go for… I've now checked up with people who suggested they would give many hundreds of thousands of dollars over a few years " a lot of them are really struggling to keep their houses now and are having to lay off staff."
Humanly speaking this might seem a time to be more cautious and scale back their $12 million development. But Mr Powell will not have a bar of that suggestion.
"That would be living by fear," he says, explaining that in an urban context where Christianity often appears dead, ministry will be more effective in a building that is "confident', "beautiful', "contemporary' and "unashamedly Christian'.
"As soon as it is built it will be practical and useful, but it's more so ministries can flourish after we have all gone," he says. "If it's a good building, generations to come will be thankful. Spread $12 million over 150 years, then it looks cost-effective."
Christians in the Media, who have undertaken a $2 million upgrade of their ministry centre at Annandale, are further down the fundraising process. So far they have funds of $1.4 million.
The Rev Dominic Steele who heads the ministry, admits they are "massively vulnerable' given their financial commitments. He explains there have been numerous job losses amongst his congregation, while the wider support network has been impacted by retrenchments in the media industry.
"But it’s the finance guys that have been really hit," he says. "We are now unlikely to get the one-off gifts of $25,000 as their bonuses came in… Yet our regular members will have more capacity to give with mortgage and petrol costs falling. It's time to hold your nerve."
Good news: giving goes up
The experts say that both Mr Steele and Mr Powell are doing the right thing sticking to their big, bold visions. Based on past recessions, church members not only keep giving to their parishes, they may give church coffers a boost.
As a result, Nathan Brown, general manager, Asia-Pacific operations for multi-national fundraising company Dunham & Co, says churches should be optimistic about budget bottom lines.
"Our company's prediction is that more than likely, we can expect giving to religion to hold steady or increase," he said. "A study conducted in January of this year in the US showed that of those who attended church more than once a week, 60 percent indicated they would give the same and 21 percent said they would increase their giving in the coming year."Â
Mr Brown's assessment is also based on studies of each of the the 11 recession years since 1970. Church-based giving only declined in one year " 1973.
Evidence from US-based researcher Sylvia Ronsvalle, who has studied giving patterns over an even longer time frame, backs up Mr Brown's prediction.
In fact, Ronsvalle's research shows that church giving as a percentage of income was higher in the early years of the Great Depression " around 3.5 percent of church attenders' incomes " than in any
period since.
High levels of giving during tough times are due to the close relationships people maintain in church communities, Ronsvalle reports.
"People traditionally view [the church] just beyond the family in terms of accountability," she told Christianity Today.
Mr Brown, who attends Kellyville Anglican Church, is concerned the "doom and gloom" will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, if ministers fail to take the opportunity to teach their congregations a biblical view of giving.
"This is the time when the truth of the gospel and the right perspective on finances, possessions and their role in a Christian's life can be brought to bear. The economic collapse has been a stark reminder of the truth" The god of our Westernised world " money " has been shown as untrustworthy and here is the church's opportunity to bring the correct perspective and teaching."
