CHURCH IN LURCH ($510G pastor accused of liberal church rip-off)

A group of parishioners at storied Riverside Church has charged that $10 million has "simply disappeared," finances are in disarray, and the church's high-profile minister has received excessive, unauthorized raises.

Five parishioners — some of whom once held leadership positions at the soaring, Gothic landmark perched on the Hudson River — are asking a judge to appoint an independent receiver to examine Riverside's books and order a special meeting to discuss church governance.

The parishioners say Riverside's leader, the Rev. James Forbes, receives a $280,000 salary and a $240,000 housing allowance, and claim he gets increases "never submitted or approved by the church council." Their petition, filed Feb. 6 in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, is the latest salvo in the group's long, bitter feud with Forbes.

Since becoming senior minister in 1989, Forbes has faced persistent criticism over his leadership and preaching style at the famously left-leaning church.

In a statement, Riverside said the petition lacks "any factual or legal basis" and the five parishioners "have a long history of criticizing the church." Several years ago, Forbes' opponents asked the Manhattan DA to investigate financial wrongdoing, but no charges were filed, a spokeswoman for Riverside side.

In the petition, the five parishioners accuse a "select few" of managing the church's affairs "without seeking approval by the appropriate church body."

Spence said Riverside's books are "transparent" and are kept in the church's library, which is open to the congregation. Spence disputed the charge that $10 million "disappeared" from Riverside's Jubilee Fund, noting that $4.4 million of the fund has not been spent and the rest is accounted for in Riverside's books.

Riverside, for decades the seedbed for spreading the Far Left's ideology, deserves the scrutiny it is now getting.

Anybody remember Michelle Malkin's September 1, 2004 WorldNetDaily column about the lack of consternation by the NY Times and the "separation-of-church-and-state" crowd about Forbes' and Riverside's blatant political event featuring Bill Clinton on the 2004 election?

An excerpt follows:

"None of this alleged concern [by the NY Times] about the supposedly undemocratic mixture of religion and politics was evident, however, in the Times' coverage of former president Bill Clinton's pulpit demagoguery at the far-left Riverside Church in New York City this past Sunday on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Here's the lead for the front-page article that ran in the Times' politics section on Monday:

"Former President Bill Clinton offered a hard-hitting attack against the Republican Party yesterday, telling worshipers gathered at Riverside Church that President Bush and the Republicans are distorting John Kerry's war record in Vietnam. 'Sometimes I think our friends on the other side have become the people of the Nine Commandments,' Mr. Clinton said. 'It is wrong to bear false witness.'

"Yup. Before a crowd of 1,500 worshipers in upper Manhattan, Clinton slammed religious conservatives for their stance against homosexual marriage and abortion; attacked President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act (co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Teddy Kennedy); derided the Bush tax cuts; questioned the Republicans' 'healthy forest' initiative; and ridiculed the expansive Medicare prescription-drug-benefit program passed with support of both parties.

"Would a Times reporter have approvingly described a sermon by a conservative preacher taking the opposite stance on the pulpit as "hard-hitting"?

"Why didn't the reporter include the standard alarmist quote from secularist Barry Lynn questioning the tax-exempt status of the Riverside Church?"

"And, putting aside the unholy spectre of an impeached president shamelessly invoking the Bible to condemn others for lying, where are all the Times' editorial writers – previously so concerned about protecting the church sanctuary from disrespectful partisan politics – now?

"Clinton's strident Sunday morning visit to the Riverside Church wasn't just one spontaneous event, but part of a coordinated nationwide campaign called 'Mobilization 2004.' The church's pastor, Rev. James Forbes, has aligned with crockumentary filmmaker Michael Moore, socialist anti-war agitators Code Pink, and liberal Protestant churches bent on booting President Bush out of office. Forbes, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention, has his hands in protest events all week during the Republican National Convention, pushing everything from increased federal spending on hunger and homelessness to single-payer health insurance.

"Nevertheless, there have been no in-depth, front-page stories on how Kerry allies are 'tilling fertile soil' among left-wing Protestants for votes. No editorials snidely titled 'Onward Democrat Soldiers.' And no conspiratorial flow-charts suggesting coordination between Rev. Forbes, the Clintons (Hillary attended the service after attacking Bush on the Sunday morning talk-show circuit) and the Kerry campaign.

"The New York Times' sanctimonious reporters and editorialists loudly declaim the mixture of religion and politics whenever conservative Christians are involved. But when the religious Left brings Democratic partisans to preach to the choir, the church-state separatists in the media are quieter than country church mice. The double standard echoes like a steel trap snapping in an empty cathedral."

The housing allowance is tax free. Also he's probably got an expense account that the article doesn't mention. I'll bet that's substantial as well. He probably also has a car allowance (also tax free) and some other benefits that ministers regularly get. When you add the other benefits to our (Methodist) ministers salary it doubles even if you don't take into consideration the major portion that taxes (state and federal) aren't paid on. They always use the salary (only) to show how little they are paid when they compare their income to others.

The housing allowance in most cases is used to pay the ministers mortgage rather than to rent a place.

They also often have a separate travel and education budget which is separate from the expense account and other salary/benefit provisions. A trip to Hawaii for an "educational" seminar or get together including the ministers family comes from that budget item.

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