Rick Warren Asks for Urgent Donations

AP ^ | California, Dec. 31, 2009 | Staff

[FTJM]

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren is begging parishioners at his Southern California megachurch to cough up $900,000 before Jan. 1 to keep the parish out of the red.

In an urgent letter posted on the Saddleback Church Web site on Wednesday, Warren says expenses are up because parishioners are out of work and "the bottom dropped out" when year-end donations dropped dramatically.

He asks parishioners to donate before the new year to keep the Orange County church out of debt, The Orange County Register reports.

A spokeswoman for Warren said the church does not release financial details, so it's difficult to put the $900,000 shortfall in context.

Warren delivered the invocation at the inauguration of President Barack Obama and is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling "The Purpose Driven Life."

[HarleyD]

I don’t have much sympathy for churches who get themselves into this predicament. I understand it’s difficult to plan a budget based upon projected income. But I could never understand why they don’t collect the income FIRST and then disperse it the next year.

[newgeezer]

I quess the purpose of this church is to raise $900,000.

I think I heard on the news this morning that this campaign ended up raking in $2.4 million.