Church Joins State, Asking for Money

     More than half of U.S. Catholic Churches have applied for Federal Government Covid19 assistance, with a smaller percentage of Protestant Churches asking.

Statistics compiled by the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference show that 8,000 parishes, 1,400 elementary schools, 700 high schools, 104 chanceries, 185 Catholic Charities agencies and 200 other diocesan organizations in 160 dioceses had applied for assistance

And LifeWay research reports:
"Two in 5 Protestant pastors (40%) say their church has applied for government assistance offered through the CARES Act or the Small Business Administration, while 56% say they have not. Around a quarter (23%) of pastors say their application was accepted, which means that of those who applied, 59% were approved for assistance.
“There are a variety of motives churches have had for applying or not applying for government assistance,” said McConnell. “As the window of opportunity closes, the majority have chosen not to apply.”
The smaller the church, the less likely they were to have applied for aid. Half of pastors at churches that average 200 in attendance or more (50%) say their church applied for aid, with 36% of all large church pastors saying they’ve already been approved.
Among churches with 100 to 199 in attendance, 44% applied. Among pastors of churches with 50 to 99 attendees, 36% say they submitted an application. A third (33%) of churches with fewer than 50 in attendance applied."
     Some churches argue that they should not take government money because of the conflict it creates.

     Most churches apparently agree that one thing they can do about Covid19 is...pray about it:

Pew Research recently asked Americans (March 19-24) about their prayer behavior in this situation, and found that over half of all Americans, 55%, say they have prayed for an end to the spread of the coronavirus situation, and among some groups that percentage is significantly higher. This includes about eight in 10 evangelical Protestants and black Protestants, and about two-thirds of Catholics.