Then are the children free.

no wonder the church fans (fundies) most often panic now. They see reality setting in. FauxNews is a good example eh. ;)

You mean we need to pay our loans?! Separation of church and state.... and banks! This is the fault of the sluts, and the gheys and especially the ghey sluts!

FirstNationalBastard: They want to get involved in politics, they should have to pay taxes like everyone else.

THIS.

Wait....you mean all the praying and pontificating and judging people and insulting people because they don't believe what you believe and cherry-picking phrases from the bible to justify your arrogant mistreatment of others and kiddie rape and generally being an asshole isn't gonna make God save your church from foreclosure?

\I never would've guessed.

Some ppl may has problemz with this...

The next time I meet a bank, I'm gonna punch it in the dick.

wow. 10 posts in and no one blamed the guy in the Oval Office yet.

TsarTom brings up an obvious fact - so kudos Sir.

It'll be interesting to know of the 'moral, self-rightous, boot-strappy' crowd's take on the topic... Kinda like when they get all 'right to life' then disparage social programs designed to help under privileged/poor kids... that whole "Life begins at conception!!! ... (but ends at birth)" social misnomer - to put it nicely....

/every life has value - as gawd intended!!! _{(righteous, backlit, 'merican flag background)}
//why are we waisting tax dollars on welfare/single moms/lazy sluts!!!

TsarTom: Wow. Two disparate Republican bedfellows finally collide.

I'll make time for this.

Yeah, crossing swords is kind of awkward.

NTTAWWT.

This could be an opportunity. Some of these churches have nice architecture and are constructed well.

Stone, or post and beam. The smaller ones might make a spiffy open-plan home with a few renovations.

And the altar could come in handy for Devils Advocate reenactments* as well.

*Imagine with two middle aged fatties though.

/Okay, maybe DON'T imagine that

cajunns: Given some of the comments here i really think you need to add a STUPID button or better yet an ASSHOLE button

Unavailable for comment?

Pray harder! That should fix it.

Turn them all into bars and dance clubs. Hey, it worked in Denver.

The Money Changers win.

Sad.

Minimally Hairy Beer-Powered Simian: cajunns: Given some of the comments here i really think you need to add a STUPID button or better yet an ASSHOLE button

[www.8bitbrigade.com image 500x224]

Begun the asshole war has.

Good! Churches are a drain on society. They consume services from fire and police departments yet pay no taxes.

I for one would love to buy a foreclosed church and turn it into a catholic school girl/nun themed strip club.

This article appeared in the Health section because...

How are they supposed to convey Jesus' true message if they don't possess large, expensive pieces of real estate?

Christian problems

You mean God isn't providing? How is this possible???

Meh...they are probably all the ugly modern ones that are no good for converting to condos:(

The common theme FTFA is a balloon loan.

Groover said the church did not default by missing monthly payments, but is in trouble because the loan ballooned.

"We don't have a million dollars to pay off the loan. I don't know what church does. The idea of auctioning off a church is senseless," he said.

You forgot that you signed up for a balloon loan?!?!?!?

Dumb asses the lot of them

cajunns: Given some of the comments here i really think you need to add a STUPID button or better yet an ASSHOLE button

Awwww, whatsa matter? Does it make you sad that more and more people are getting sick and tired of watching you backwards, neolithic goat herders try to tell us how to teach science, fark in our own beds, and what we can and can't watch on TV because your "all-powerful" deity who just happens to also be acting completely in absentia by all accounts supposedly said something six thousands years ago that a bunch of ancient, sun-worshiping troglodytes wrote down on a sheep skin one day?

Go pound sand. People are getting sick and tired of cowards using the shield of "religion" to try and protect themselves from criticism for espousing bigoted, misogynistic, anti-intellectual bullshiat. Churches are a drain on society that provide no real value that couldn't be made up elsewhere by better, more upstanding people without the veil of bullshiat ever Sunday morning.

You jackwagons couldn't just be happy to sit in your little pews and do your thing, you had to go running around screaming that everybody's out to get you, every time you don't get to tell other people how to live or force your beliefs on them it's oppression and that everyone else is evil and wrong and should be reviled.

Well, you wanted a social war, you got one, buddy.

Obligatory: WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?

hej: I for one would love to buy a foreclosed church and turn it into a catholic school girl/nun themed strip club.

They make pretty good rock clubs.

The Tabrenacle (new window)

Splinshints: cajunns: Given some of the comments here i really think you need to add a STUPID button or better yet an ASSHOLE button

Awwww, whatsa matter? Does it make you sad that more and more people are getting sick and tired of watching you backwards, neolithic goat herders try to tell us how to teach science, fark in our own beds, and what we can and can't watch on TV because your "all-powerful" deity who just happens to also be acting completely in absentia by all accounts supposedly said something six thousands years ago that a bunch of ancient, sun-worshiping troglodytes wrote down on a sheep skin one day?

Go pound sand. People are getting sick and tired of cowards using the shield of "religion" to try and protect themselves from criticism for espousing bigoted, misogynistic, anti-intellectual bullshiat. Churches are a drain on society that provide no real value that couldn't be made up elsewhere by better, more upstanding people without the veil of bullshiat ever Sunday morning.

You jackwagons couldn't just be happy to sit in your little pews and do your thing, you had to go running around screaming that everybody's out to get you, every time you don't get to tell other people how to live or force your beliefs on them it's oppression and that everyone else is evil and wrong and should be reviled.

Well, you wanted a social war, you got one, buddy.

Angry much?

I want to buy a cathedral on the cheap, so I'm getting a kick out of this...

Another Government Employee: Angry much?

Yea, I tend not to be too happy with people who try to get laws passed dictating how other people should live their lives based on what their invisible friends whisper to them.

This makes perfect sense to me. Maybe it is a Baltimore thing, but It seems as though every closed restaurant and abandoned movie theater becomes a church. I would guess over 100 churches have sprung up since the real estate crash and for every Reverand Hallelujah who suckers his folks into handing over their unemployment pay so he can buy Rolexes and a Lexus, there are 2 that just couldn't hack it.

Freedom of religion doesn't mean freedom not to pay your bills. And besides, it's not like churches are being used for anything useful.

How poorly do finances have to be handled for a church to go bankrupt? The income is tax free as are their purchases. Sure, they have fixed expenses like any business. On the other hand, most of their labor is volunteer work and all their variable expenses are optional.

Splinshints: cajunns: Given some of the comments here i really think you need to add a STUPID button or better yet an ASSHOLE button

Awwww, whatsa matter? Does it make you sad that more and more people are getting sick and tired of watching you backwards, neolithic goat herders try to tell us how to teach science, fark in our own beds, and what we can and can't watch on TV because your "all-powerful" deity who just happens to also be acting completely in absentia by all accounts supposedly said something six thousands years ago that a bunch of ancient, sun-worshiping troglodytes wrote down on a sheep skin one day?

Go pound sand. People are getting sick and tired of cowards using the shield of "religion" to try and protect themselves from criticism for espousing bigoted, misogynistic, anti-intellectual bullshiat. Churches are a drain on society that provide no real value that couldn't be made up elsewhere by better, more upstanding people without the veil of bullshiat ever Sunday morning.

You jackwagons couldn't just be happy to sit in your little pews and do your thing, you had to go running around screaming that everybody's out to get you, every time you don't get to tell other people how to live or force your beliefs on them it's oppression and that everyone else is evil and wrong and should be reviled.

Well, you wanted a social war, you got one, buddy.

If we're gonna get an "asshole" button, we also need a "magnificent bastard" button.

No wonder the mormon church is spending $5 Biliion on a mall in salt lake city

we can only all hope and pray that the mall bucks the recent trend of 'little return on investment'
/Just hope and pray...........and pay and obey

0MGWTFBBQ: I want to buy a cathedral on the cheap, so I'm getting a kick out of this...

I have a friend who lives in a small country church. It and the surrounding village had been abandoned a number of years ago, but somehow the church building was maintained. The heating bills are insane (it is in the upper midwest), but otherwise a neat place.

I really want an old small church. Architecturally speaking I love them.

Another Government Employee: Splinshints: cajunns: Given some of the comments here i really think you need to add a STUPID button or better yet an ASSHOLE button

Awwww, whatsa matter? Does it make you sad that more and more people are getting sick and tired of watching you backwards, neolithic goat herders try to tell us how to teach science, fark in our own beds, and what we can and can't watch on TV because your "all-powerful" deity who just happens to also be acting completely in absentia by all accounts supposedly said something six thousands years ago that a bunch of ancient, sun-worshiping troglodytes wrote down on a sheep skin one day?

Go pound sand. People are getting sick and tired of cowards using the shield of "religion" to try and protect themselves from criticism for espousing bigoted, misogynistic, anti-intellectual bullshiat. Churches are a drain on society that provide no real value that couldn't be made up elsewhere by better, more upstanding people without the veil of bullshiat ever Sunday morning.

You jackwagons couldn't just be happy to sit in your little pews and do your thing, you had to go running around screaming that everybody's out to get you, every time you don't get to tell other people how to live or force your beliefs on them it's oppression and that everyone else is evil and wrong and should be reviled.

Well, you wanted a social war, you got one, buddy.

Angry much?

I dunno about being angry, but I pretty much feel the same way. It is the year 2012, and I personally find it ridiculous that otherwise normal humans still believe that there is a "god" looking out for them in this day and age. For fark's sake, people, magic is not real.

My mom used to work for a non profit that did fundraising for churches. By and large, churches are governed by volunteer boards of know it all idiots. Occasionally, they are run by some asshole who is funneling money into his own enterprises. People get elected to church board for looking like "good Christians".

One major problem is people are making decisions with other people's money, therefore they will accept far more risk, like the major balloon payments in TFA.

Another problem is they often think they should get everything for free. Many times the churches would balk at the fees my mom's org would charge.

Top it off with unrealistic expectations. She would should her research and how much a church could realistically support. The board would try to raise funds on their own, because they thought they "deserved" more.

Needless to say, I'm not shocked by the article, without even needing to discuss declining memberships.

From the article that most of you probably didn't bother reading.

"Most of these institutions have ended up being purchased by other churches."

So no, this really didn't change much. These were for the most part smaller churches with declining membership that seems to be gravitating towards larger churches.

// The Devil is in the details.

wrenchboy: wow. 10 posts in and no one blamed the guy in the Oval Office yet.

/challenge accepted

This is clearly a liberalist plot to undermine the Republican voter base in order to ensure the marxist, socialist, mooslim 0bama gets reelected. It's a blatant violation of church and state The state bailed out the banks. The banks foreclose on the helpless, victimized, righteous churches and the unwashed, ungodly, unholy, un'merkin masses get to elect their false idol for another 4 years.

/how was that?

stewbert: My mom used to work for a non profit that did fundraising for churches. By and large, churches are governed by volunteer boards of know it all idiots. Occasionally, they are run by some asshole who is funneling money into his own enterprises. People get elected to church board for looking like "good Christians".

One major problem is people are making decisions with other people's money, therefore they will accept far more risk, like the major balloon payments in TFA.

Another problem is they often think they should get everything for free. Many times the churches would balk at the fees my mom's org would charge.

Top it off with unrealistic expectations. She would should her research and how much a church could realistically support. The board would try to raise funds on their own, because they thought they "deserved" more.

Needless to say, I'm not shocked by the article, without even needing to discuss declining memberships.

Having been one of those idiots a couple of times, you are about 75% right. It is easier to take the risk when it is not (all) your funds. And I have seen the guy funneling extra business his way.

The reason why most serve is not so much being a "good Christian". But rather they believe in the organization's mission, whether they prefer to save individual souls or to more corporate mission work like shelters. Others use it for resume polishing (prove their "leadership" skills).

The most delicious part:

"Solid Rock Christian Church near Memphis, Tennessee, took out a $2.9 million loan with the Evangelical Christian Credit Union at the beginning of 2008, to construct a new, 2,000 seat, 34,000 square-foot building to house its growing congregation.

In the middle of construction, the economy crashed. The church raided its savings to finish the project, but ended up defaulting on the loan.

The ECCU foreclosed and put the church up for auction."

Those Evangelical Christians sure are a charitable bunch, or so I've been repeatedly told.