Leaders consider stimulus loan options, and Christians rally to fund grants for struggling churches.
Churches and ministries in the US have never before been offered the kind of financial relief now available through the coronavirus stimulus package.
For some—like the religious liberty advocates who lobbied to clarify eligibility for faith-based employers—their inclusion in the federal government’s $350 billion small-business loan effort comes as a major answer to prayer.
But for many Christian leaders, the unprecedented setup still raises questions. With the country’s long tradition of church-state separation, is it a good idea for congregations to accept the funding that comes as part of a government stimulus? And if they decide to, how does it work?
Special guidance released Friday stated that religious employers including churches would be able to participate in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). It allows small businesses that have suffered financially due to the COVID-19 outbreak to apply for loans, which can be forgiven if used to cover payroll and mortgage costs.
This week, Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), assured Southern Baptists that the program “is not any way a ‘bailout’ of churches” but part of a broader safety net to stave off widespread unemployment. He wrote that he did not see the financial relief as a dangerous entanglement, saying that funding through a forgiven loan in these circumstances would not open up a church to government oversight.
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) president emeritus Dan Busby anticipates that tens of thousands of churches at minimum will apply for the PPP loans.
Over the past week, financial resources ministries have been rushing to answer FAQs, host webinars, ...
from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/2xTo1DI
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