Rick Warren's "urgent" post-Christmas plea to Saddleback Church members for $900,000 in donations to cover a budget shortfall shocked observers around the country. Not surprisingly, critics of Warren and his ministry were quick to speculate on nefarious reasons for the surprising and pressing need for such a large sum of money at one of the nation's most successful churches (see below). The real reason for the shortfall, however, appears to be shared among Christian ministries across the nation, if not the world-the lengthy and deep economic downturn.

The number of megachurches-churches with more than 2,000 in regular weekly attendance-has increased 100-fold since the 1970s, from less than 20 to almost 2,000 today.

For Mark Holbrook, an evangelical Christian who graduated from Biola University in the early 1970s, this growth was a great ministry-and a great business-opportunity. So he joined the staff of a small California credit union, and by 1979 he was president. Today, the Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) is a financial powerhouse.

Joel Osteen is fond of telling reporters that he hasn't accepted a salary from the church he pastors-Houston's mammoth Lakewood Church-since 2005. When Pastor Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life made bestseller lists, he said on Larry King Live that he had reimbursed his church for all the salary he had ever taken from Saddleback Church, and that he and his wife Kay were "reverse tithing": keeping 10 percent of their income and giving away 90 percent.

Franklin Graham has long had a reputation for being larger than life and going his own way. His 1997 memoir, Rebel With a Cause, chronicled his prodigal period and his return to God. Eventually, he made it to the top spots at both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan's Purse (SP), a Christian relief organization ministering to the needy around the world.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.-After the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's hometown newspaper, The Charlotte Observer, on Friday devoted more than 3,000 words to the controversy over the compensation packages of Franklin Graham, the younger Graham announced he will give up his salary with the association (BGEA). As son of evangelist Billy Graham, Franklin Graham heads both the relief organization Samaritan's Purse, which is based in Boone, N.C., and BGEA, where he became CEO in 2000 and president in 2001.

A tiny ACORN has grown into a huge mess.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has received more than $54 million in federal funding since 1994. But that federal funding is likely to end following scandal, allegations of illegal activity-and an overwhelming Sept. 17 vote by both houses of Congress to defund the group: 345-75 in the House and 85-11 in the Senate.

When church leaders want to raise money for building programs, they often turn to companies like Indiana-based Alanar, which trains these leaders to sell bonds to fellow church members. In Alanar's training is advice to open meetings with prayer, quote Scripture during the sales call, and "never sell the facts, sell warm stewardship and the Lord."