Church members get $500 each to spend as they wish..What would you do?

Most of you will read this hoping your high-flying mega-church could borrow a leaf from LaSalle Street Church, Chicago, Illinois, which shared $160,000 among its 300 member congregation –  with no conditions attached.

As the story goes, the church came up with the unusual plan of giving each church member $500 to spend on whatever they wish – as long as it is for good.

According to Laura Truax, the Church Senior Pastor, the plan came up as suddenly as the resources to fund it had appeared. In June, the British Columbia-based Onni Group acquired Atrium Village, a 309-unit residential development funded by Security Properties Inc., Crane Construction Co. and four churches, including LaSalle Street Church.

“The churches each owned 15 percent of the property and got $1.6 million apiece out of the $50 million buyout,” Truax said.

She and the church’s board of elders decided to use 10 per cent of the money to engage the roughly 300-member church in a giving challenge.

Cool idea, isn’t it? Her church members sure think so.
Donna Smith-Bellinger, a Lincoln Park resident and member of the church for three years, was ushering with her husband at one of the services when the cheque announcement was made.

“I stopped and looked across the church at my husband, and his eyes were open big, like, ‘Did she just say that?’ We were both like, ‘What is going on?'” Smith-Bellinger said.

The checks will all expire December 1, forcing congregants to use their money before the holiday season.

Several members of the church have come together to decide on how to spend the sudden windfall but we can’t help but wonder what you would do if you attend church next Sunday and get handed an N80,000 cheque – no strings attached!