Riddle: What's the ONLY thing worse than a church trying to boost attendance by giving away a house?
Answer: A church trying to boost attendance by giving away a house, and then NOT giving the house to the winner.
I won't say much about how angry this stuff makes me...
A couple of choice quotes:
"Without Walls... is one of the largest independent nondenominational churches, collecting $40 million a year in revenue. Detractors say its pastors borrowed $170,000 from an elderly widow and never kept promises to care for her or pay it back. Since 2000, five businesspeople have sued or filed liens against the church or the pastors, accusing them of not paying bills or reneging on deals.
This week, Dupree said she is another victim.
...
"At first he said he'd go to his grave to fix this and make it right for me," she said. "Then it turned into finding me a rental home in Ybor City that one of the other pastors owned. I kept telling him, 'No, that wasn't the deal. I want my house.'"
By March 2003, Dupree gave up and moved to the apartment in Riverview.
"I finally accepted it was nothing but a publicity stunt," she said.
She said she spoke with an attorney, but he told her she had no case without a written agreement.
In his statement, White likened the situation to people who win prizes on television shows, only to learn the winnings are heavily taxed.
"We videotaped the winner walking through the house, but unfortunately the winner was unable to use the down payment because she failed to qualify for the rest of the mortgage on the home," the statement said. "In hindsight, our essay contestants should have been prequalified for mortgage loans before judged."
White said Dupree received two months' rent for her apartment and all the furniture in the Temple Terrace home. Dupree said she got the furniture, donated by a local store, but no money for rent.
She no longer attends Without Walls or any other church."
Read the rest here
