Hey so this is an article i read in yahoo news and was surprised at the facts in here. please feel free to give it a quick read and read what's after it.... there's hope:)"RELIGIOUS LIFE WON'T BE THE SAME AFTER DOWNTURN by RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll, Ap Religion Writer – MonSep28, 7:11pmETNEW YORK – Organized religion was already in trouble before the fall of 2008. Denominations were stagnating or shrinking, and congregations across faith groups were fretting about their finances.The Great Recession made things worse.It's further drained the financial resources of many congregations, seminaries and religious day schools. Some congregations have disappeared and schools have been closed. In areas hit hardest by the recession, worshippers have moved away to find jobs, leaving those who remain to minister to communities struggling with rising home foreclosures, unemployment and uncertainty.Religion has a long history of drawing hope out of suffering, but there's little good news emerging from the recession. Long after the economy improves, the changes made today will have a profound effect on how people practice their faith, where they turn for help in times of stress and how they pass their beliefs to their children."In 2010, I think we're going to see 10 or 15 percent of congregations saying they're in serious financial trouble," says David Roozen, a lead researcher for the Faith Communities Today multi-faith survey, which measures congregational health annually. "With around 320,000 or 350,000 congregations, that's a hell of a lot of them."The sense of community that holds together religious groups is broken when large numbers of people move to find work or if a ministry is forced to close."I'm really still in the mourning process," says Eve Fein, former head of the now-shuttered Morasha Jewish Day School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.The school, a center of religious life for students and their parents, had been relying on a sale of some of its property to stay afloat but land values dropped, forcing Morasha to shut down in June."I don't think any of us who were in it have really recovered," Fein says. "The school was 23 years old. I raised my kids there."The news isn't uniformly bad. Communities in some areas are still moving ahead with plans for new congregations, schools and ministries, religious leaders say.And many congregations say they found a renewed sense of purpose helping their suffering neighbors. Houses of worship became centers of support for the unemployed. Some congregants increased donations. At RockHarbor church in Costa Mesa, Calif., members responded so generously to word of a budget deficit that the church ended the fiscal year with a surplus."We're all a little dumbfounded," says Bryan Wilkins, the church business director. "We were hearing lots of stories about people being laid off, struggling financially and losing homes. It's truly amazing."In the Great Depression, one of the bigger impacts was the loss of Jewish religious schools, which are key to continuing the faith from one generation to the next. Jonathan Sarna, a Brandeis University historian and author of "American Judaism," says enrollment in Jewish schools plummeted in some cities and many young Jews of that period didn't have a chance to study their religion.Today, some parents, regardless of faith, can no longer afford the thousands of dollars in tuition it costs to send a child to a religious day school. Church officials fear these parents won't re-endroll their kids if family finances improve because it might be disruptive once they've settled into a new school.Enrollment in one group of 120 Jewish community day schools is down by about 7 percent this academic year, according to Marc Kramer, executive director of RAVSAK, a network of the schools. A few schools lost as many as 30 percent of their students. Many of the hundreds of other Jewish day schools, which are affiliated with Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements, are also in a financial crunch.Kramer says 2009-10 will be a "make or break" year for Jewish education, partly because of the additional damage to endowments and donors from Bernard Madoff's colossal fraud.Overall, U.S. Jewish groups are estimated to have lost about one-quarter of their wealth."It's going to be painful," Kramer says. "There will be some losses." The Association for Christian Schools International, which represents about 3,800 private schools, says enrollment is down nationally by nearly 5 percent. About 200 Christian schools closed or merged in the last academic year, 50 more than the year before. At least 80 members of the Association of Theological Schools, which represents graduate schools in North America, have seen their endowments drop by 20 percent or more. The National Catholic Education Association is still measuring the toll on its schools, but expects grim news from the hardest hit states, after years of declining enrollment. "Some schools that were on the brink — this whole recession has just intensified that," says Karen Ristau, president of the association. Clergy in different communities say worship attendance has increased with people seeking comfort through difficult times, although no one is predicting a nationwide religious revival. Americans for years have been moving away from belonging to a denomination and toward a general spirituality that may or may not involve regular churchgoing. The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey found more people who call themselves "nondenominational Christians" and rising numbers who say they have no religion at all. Before the stock market tanked last fall, only 19 percent of U.S. congregations described their finances as excellent, down from 31 percent in 2000, according to the 2008 Faith Communities Today poll. Because of these trends, mainline Protestants were among the most vulnerable to the downturn. Their denominations had been losing members for decades and had been dividing over how they should interpret what the Bible says on gay relationships and other issues. National churches had been relying on endowments to help with operating costs, along with the generosity of an aging membership that had been giving in amounts large enough to mostly make up for departed brethren. The meltdown destroyed that financial buffer. The Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and other mainline denominations were forced to cut jobs and their national budgets. The damage was felt across Methodist life. As of the summer, more than half of the church's 62 U.S. regional districts, or annual conferences, reported they had budget deficits. Some sold property and buildings to continue their ministries. Two national Methodist boards cut more than 90 jobs. Fifty bishops took a voluntary pay cut. Annual conferences in hard-hit regions, such as Florida and Ohio, lost thousands of members as people moved to find work elsewhere. "Many of these groups have such large endowments that they're not going away," Roozen says. "But I think there's no question that they're going to be smaller both as organizations and in membership." Roman Catholic dioceses for years had been struggling with maintaining their aging churches, paying salaries and health insurance and funding settlements over clergy sex abuse. With the hit to investment income and a drop in donations, they are now freezing salaries, cutting ministries and staff. The Archdiocese of Detroit, at the heart of the meltdown, had a $14 million shortfall in a $42 million budget in the fiscal year that ended in June 2008. Conservative Protestant groups, known for their entrepreneurial spirit and evangelizing, were not immune. The 16.2 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant group in the country, has had budget cuts in its North American Mission Board, at least three of its six seminaries and in its publishing and research arm. Religious leaders say the next year or so will be key in determining which organizations survive the downturn intact. Even if the recession ends soon, religious fundraisers say the angst donors feel will not lift immediately, prolonging the difficulties for congregations, schools and ministries."Pasted from <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090928/ap_on_bi_ge/us_rel_meltdown_religion> 1 Timothy 6:17-19"17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."2 Corinthians 8:1-4"1And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints."Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. Their poverty welled up to generosity. The more impverished they became the more they gave. Where our treasure is there our heart will be also. In the time of recession, let out churches not get scared. We will take this as a reminder that our joy is not in this earth. Nothing on earth can satisfy our desires so our joy remains in heaven. Solomon already tried it: he had everything he could ever want yet, he found that "Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income." "The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep." John D. Rockefeller said, "I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness." W.H. Vanderbilt: "the care of $200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it." So why are we at a loss of funds in the church? Why are child support organizations losing sponsors? Out of our poverty, let it overflow in rich generosity towards others. We've got nothing on earth to lose- its all already God's and we've already got our treasure. Let us give.I pray to continually find joy in trading my earthly treasure for heavenly treasure. In our poverty, let us give recklessly as we are commanded to, trusting it will be repaid to un one day tenfold. Our hope is not in a church building but in the death and resurrection and kingdom to come. So if our building campaign funds run out or pastors start volunteering, let us rejoice in the hope that the hungry are being fed and the poor are becoming richer and that we are growing ever closer to the goal of equality. Our abundance or poverty will overflow to provide their needs. Let our giving beyond our ability be a testimony that God can provide in any circumstance. Daily bread.
Psalm 49
"5 There is no need to fear when times of trouble come, when enemies are surrounding me.
6 They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches.
7 Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paing a ransom to God.
8 Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough
9 to live forever and never see the grave.
10 Those who are wise must finally die, just like the foolish and senseless, leaving all their wealth behind.
11 The grave is their eternal home, where they will stay forever. They may name their estates after themselves, but they leave their wealth to others.
12 They will not last long despite their riches- they will die like the animals.
13 This is the fate of fools, though they will be remembered as being so wise.
14 Like sheep, they are lead to the grave, where death will be their shepherd. In the morning the godly will rule over them. Their bodies will rot in the grave, far from their grand estates.
15 But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of death.
16 So don't be dismayed when the wicked grow rich, and their homes become ever more splendid.
17 For when they die, they carry nothing with them. Their wealth will not follow them to the grave.
18 In this life they consider themselves fortunate, and the world loudly applauds their success.
19 But they will die like all others before them and never again see the light of day.
20 People who boast in their wealth don't understand that they will die like the animals."
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