InfoAnda - Even Help From Higher Power Fails To Stop Ministerial Layoffs

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Home U.S. World Entertainment Sports Business Health Science Technology Politics Offbeat Environment Travel News Articles Even Help From Higher Power Fails To Stop Ministerial Layoffs October 21, 2009 4:27 p.m. EST Melvin Baker - AHN Reporter St. Petersburg, FL (AHN) - Life for David and Rosie White, before the economy fell, was much like that for many people in the United States. Rosie worked part time so she could take care of their five children in a home in an older neighborhood of this city on the west coast of Florida. David had a full time career and a part-time job. Once a week, he drove to Orlando for college classes. They had busy lives and plans. Then the economy changed and, like many others, they had made to make new plans, some of which they are struggling to keep. Their plans seemed simple enough. David planned from the age of 16 to go into the ministry. Rosie planned to be the wife of a minister. Their personal spiritual leanings lead them both to Warner University, a small Christian college in central Florida. They shared almost all the same classes during their two years there. They seemed destined for each other. After college, Rev. White got a job at a church in Miami, where he worked for three years. In 1999, he was hired as youth minister at Grace Bible Church in St. Petersburg. They bought a house large enough to accommodate their growing family. Mrs. White worked part time at an elementary school; Rev. White made some extra money with a part time job at the YMCA. Then the economy stumbled. The congregation at Grace, like worshippers everywhere, tightened their belts. Contributions in the collection plate dropped as members struggled to pay their bills. The congregation dwindled. At the end of January, Rev. White was given six months' notice. His job was being eliminated. "We knew it was coming so we started doing some things to help us out," Rev. White said. The couple planned, they put money aside. Air conditioning became rationed. Stops at Starbucks stopped. They talked to the bank about flexibility on the mortgage. A "brick wall" exercise, said Mrs. White. As little as two years ago, Rev. White says, he could have easily found another ministerial position. That's not the case in 2009. Layoffs and job eliminations have become more commonplace in houses of worship nationwide, according to the National Association of Church Business Administration. The interdenominational professional Christian organization surveys the economic health of churches twice a year. In an August 2008 report compiled by the NACBA, 12 percent of respondents said they had laid off staff as a means of cutting costs. Another 10 percent said they had reduced ministry services. The answers were starkly different only six months later. In a February survey, 20 percent of respondents said their churches had laid off staff, while 47 percent said they had frozen or reduced staff benefits. The future for those working in church-based jobs is dispiriting. Nearly a quarter of respondents suggested that staff reductions were planned or possible in the future either through layoffs or attrition, the NACBA found. Other options under consideration were cuts to benefits or salaries and reductions to work hours. Planning-and help from powers human and higher-has helped Rev. White and Mrs. White work through this period. "God has provided us with the means to take care of our budget," says Rev. White. Friends have slipped them gift cards for the occasional dinner out and anonymous benefactors have sent money. There even have been a few luxuries: Rev. White's parents shared their vacation with the family. Mrs. White won a night for the family at a Tampa Bay Rays home game. Mrs. White's early life growing up in Mississippi had prepared her for the challenge. Her dad had worked in a factory, sharecropping on the side. Number 18 of 19 children, she knew all about "using all of everything." Consequently, Rev. White says she is the "most frugal grocery shopper you ever met in your life." Some plans they've had to postpone: adding on to the house, dental work, house upkeep. Money is doled out thoughtfully, according to their plan. But like all best laid plans, sometime things go wrong. Mrs. White forgot to pay the electric bill one month. They had the money; it just slipped her mind. There went $50 to get the power turned back on. Then she forgot again. After the second time, the electric company followed up with a letter demanding a deposit of $590. An unplanned expense, how they'll deal with it is something the family is still working out. Frustration boils into the conversation for the first time. "But what seems ridiculous to me is that they would ask," says Mrs. White, "if they would understand that there are people who are maybe having a problem paying their bills it doesn't make sense, in my mind, to assess an additional $600 on top of what you already owe, and especially considering, you know, we've been in this house for nine years, we've always paid our bills. I don't know, I guess they think we're going to run away. It just seems unfair." Rev. White adds, "It was kind of like adding insult to injury to where we're at right now. Trying to be responsible, trying to take care of everything and then just have a company just arbitrarily say, oh by the way, we're going to charge you this extra amount. You laugh about it, you cry about it a little bit, ok, what do you do?" Regardless of this setback, Mrs. White looks beyond their financial obstacles and sees her husband's layoff as "something to be thankful for." His job as youth minister took a lot of time away from the family, and the part time job subtracted even more. Once a week, he drove to Orlando for seminary classes. Mrs. White would pray that he could find more time for the family. Now, working only part time, he and the family have more time together. They take a lot of walks or ride bicycles to the library. Hannah, the oldest child at 12, sums up what the changes have meant to her and her siblings. "It's made us closer as a family." Rev. and Mrs. White don't regret the path they chose for their life, although she wonders how things would be different if her husband had to take a road away from ministry. They are trying to be content with where they are, "trusting that God will open a door." Rev. White hopes the experience will instill in their children "that there are times that you go through in life like this and you have a choice to make. You can either learn for it or get angry. But we choose to learn from it and trust that it's just one of those teaching times." He hopes they are learning about what is really important. Copyright © 2003 - 2009 AHN - All rights reserved.Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.License AHN news for your website, business, digital signage network or publication. Recent Posts Most Popular Comments Recent Comments Popular Threads Home | U.S. | World | Entertainment | Sports | Business | Health | Sci / Tech | Politics | Weird / Offbeat Follow AHN on Twitter AHN Social News connects you with friends and the news Client Login | Submit News | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact | Content Services © 2009 AHN All Rights Reserved

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