Churches receive steady donations despite recession

Although people may be turning away from investing in stocks, they aren't hesitating to invest in their local churches.

An increase in tithing and graciousness during the past year has stopped the economy's threats to keep down the spirits of churchgoers.

Pastor Brent Johnston of First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln said it's a matter of faith.

"It seems like in a time of economic crisis, when people don't know if they're going to have a job tomorrow and what not, they seem to invest their money in something they can have faith in," Johnston said. "They have faith in the church."

Six churches in the Lincoln area agreed that their donations have not been negatively affected (some have increased). But even though members have faith, the depressed economy has affected the churches in other ways.

The Lincoln Berean Church had $144,000 dollars stolen by a man dressed as a security guard slightly over a month ago, but Pastor Brad Brestol said the loss is not as large as it had appeared.

Of the stolen money, about $4,100 was cash; the rest was handwritten checks. Union Bank, the bank used by the church, was able to void nearly half of the checks. The burglar probably got away with that $4,100, Brestol said, the church also lost some money indirectly to stop-check fees.

"Here's where the loss really comes in," Brestol said. "Our average gift is 25 dollars. If they have to pay a 40-dollar stop-check fee, that wipes out our offering for that week and the next. Those banks that didn't forgo the fee pretty much got our offering."

Even with this unfortunate event, Brestol remains optimistic about his church's overall situation despite the depressed economy.

"We haven't noticed any difference at all in members' giving," he said. "The meltdown kind of happened in September of this year, and our December offerings were actually the best December offerings we've ever had."

The University Lutheran Chapel has seen consistency in member's giving, Pastor Bill Steinbauer said, but church officials continue to make prudent decisions because of the current economic situation.

Steinbauer said the church is losing one employee it won't be able to replace.

"Overall though, we haven't noticed any difference in giving," he said.

Pastor Johnston suggested that even if people are nervous about making promises, the reality of peoples' situations doesn't constitute their fear.

"Our number of pledges have gone down," Johnston said. "But the amazing thing is our giving has remained the same."

Father Jerry Thompson of St. Mark's Episcopal Church and Pastor Karen Moritz of Cornerstone Church have not seen any significant changes, but Thompson said his church has been careful about how many local charities the church can agree to support.

Father Benjamin Holdren of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church said that his church's number of donations have gone up.

"We're ahead of where we were last year," Holdren said, "but we're still cautious. You never know what next year could bring."

"Even though the economy is failing and there's reason to have fear, there's almost more incentive to give to something that will last for eternity," Brestol said. "Giving to the homeless and people in need when money becomes more scarce is logical to people."

ELLENHIRST@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM