Should Churches Borrow Money?

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

Recently the Christian Financial Alliance asked several bloggers the following question:

“What is your stance on the issue of churches borrowing money?"

Here was my response:

“Every time the Bible mentions debt, it warns about the dangers of it. So while debt isn’t prohibited, its use is cautioned. For this reason, I think both Christians as well as churches should avoid debt in all but very specific circumstances and when they do [take on debt], have a clear and reasonable plan to pay it off quickly.”

FYI, you may also want to check the link above to see what other bloggers had to say on the issue.

What do you think of my response?

Comments

[Super Saver]

Sure, it would be hard to add a building without a mortgage.

[Money Beagle]

I know our church has used financing to fund several expansion projects over the years, but has always taken a conservative approach to planning for payment, and thus has always been able to do so comfortably, either paying early, paying on time, and even refinancing along the way to take advantage of falling interest rates.

[Jo]

I have worked at three churches all of which had to take out loans for capital campaigns for building projects. Unfortunately because of low donations last year, my current church had to take out a line of credit just to pay our salaries for a month or two. Luckily we were able to pay it back quickly, and I think it was a wake-up call to our members that they need to give (or increase their giving) if possible.