Religions > Atheism > Sell all your belonings and give the money to the poor....more on the Mt Olive Church in Baltimore
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Hatter" |
| Date: |
25 Jul 2007 09:31:59 AM |
| Object: |
Sell all your belonings and give the money to the poor....more on the Mt Olive Church in Baltimore |
The First Mount Olive Free Will Baptist Church bought a luxurious
custom Bentley in 2005, the same year the inner-city church failed to
pay a $12,000 water bill that has led to the filing of a foreclosure
suit, motor vehicle records show.
The congregation that owns the 140-year-old West Baltimore church,
destroyed last week by lightning, is fending off multiple foreclosure
threats because of the delinquent water bill and an alleged mortgage
default on the 9-acre property the church owns in Southwest Baltimore,
according to court records.
Former First Mount Olive parishioner Mary Hynes, 84, remembers when
the black Bentley was ceremoniously given to Bishop Oscar E. Brown two
summers ago.
Brown backed the car out from the church yard onto Saratoga Street
while parishioners "stood out there hollering, praising him because he
had this," Hynes said. "I didn't think it was right."
The splurge on the turbo-charged English motorcar worth as much as
$150,000 at the time of sale - more than many of the homes in the
church's immediate neighborhood - raises new questions about the
congregation's fiscal management.
Church officials declined yesterday to offer any answers.
"My hopes are that at some time I will be able to respond," said
spokesman Bryan Miller. "But at this point, no comment."
In the days after the July 10 fire , the church received offers of
help from Mayor Sheila Dixon and money from supporters around the
country, Brown said.
Brown has reassured his 3,000-member congregation that First Mount
Olive will receive a $4 million insurance payout.
A spokeswoman for GuideOne Insurance said yesterday that the company
will honor the church's insurance policy, but that it "may be several
weeks before a final valuation is determined."
City investigators determined a few days after the blaze that it was
sparked by the lightning.
In addition to facing multiple foreclosure suits over the still-unpaid
2005 water bill of $12,342 and other municipal bills, First Mount
Olive was notified just days before the fire that the property it
acquired in 2002 would be auctioned at the end of this month. The
church is accused of defaulting on its $1.5 million mortgage, held by
SunTrust Bank, records show.
The auctioneer, Atlantic Asset Management Group, says the foreclosure
sale is scheduled to go on July 26.
Yesterday, a spokesman for Dixon said the mayor was unaware of the
church's financial problems when she offered to help and would not
discuss them. "We're just going to decline comment," said spokesman
Anthony McCarthy.
Rabbi Steven M. Fink of Temple Oheb Shalom said Dixon's office helped
arrange for First Mount Olive to temporarily hold Sunday services at
the 800-seat synagogue in Northwest Baltimore, starting Sunday.
According to car ownership records obtained by The Sun, and confirmed
by the state Motor Vehicle Administration, the church registered the
2002 Bentley Arnage sedan in 2005.
Matthew Smith, a car salesman at EuroMotorcars in Bethesda said a
Bentley Arnage, which takes as long as three months to construct by
hand, costs at least $225,000 new. He estimated that the car the
church bought was worth between $130,000 and $150,000, assuming it was
in good condition. Today, it is worth about $120,000, he said.
Hynes daughter, Ingrid Heigs, said Brown typically kept the Bentley
parked in a fenced-in portion of the church property.
"If you're in that kind of debt, you would think instead of buying a
Bentley you would pay your bills up and stay out of foreclosure,"
Heigs said. "But if his congregation felt as though he was worth
buying a Bentley for, who's to say that he wasn't?"
Brown did not return a call yesterday placed to his Howard County
home, a 3,800-square house built in 1997 and appraised for tax
purposes at about $600,000.
A late model Lexus SC430 sports car was parked in front of his house
yesterday.
"That's really nice, that he drives a Bentley," said Fink, the rabbi.
"I'll have to see if he'll give me a ride."
The 43-year-old bishop is not the only religious leader in Baltimore's
inner city to travel in extravagant style.
The Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant of Northwest Baltimore's Empowerment
Temple drives a leased 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur, according
to state records.
gadi.dechter@baltsun.com
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| User: "Smiler" |
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| Title: Re: Sell all your belonings and give the money to the poor....more on the Mt Olive Church in Baltimore |
25 Jul 2007 06:03:20 PM |
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"Hatter" <Hatter23@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1185373919.671890.240520@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
The First Mount Olive Free Will Baptist Church bought a luxurious
custom Bentley in 2005, the same year the inner-city church failed to
pay a $12,000 water bill that has led to the filing of a foreclosure
suit, motor vehicle records show.
The congregation that owns the 140-year-old West Baltimore church,
destroyed last week by lightning, is fending off multiple foreclosure
threats because of the delinquent water bill and an alleged mortgage
default on the 9-acre property the church owns in Southwest Baltimore,
according to court records.
Former First Mount Olive parishioner Mary Hynes, 84, remembers when
the black Bentley was ceremoniously given to Bishop Oscar E. Brown two
summers ago.
Brown backed the car out from the church yard onto Saratoga Street
while parishioners "stood out there hollering, praising him because he
had this," Hynes said. "I didn't think it was right."
The splurge on the turbo-charged English motorcar worth as much as
$150,000 at the time of sale - more than many of the homes in the
church's immediate neighborhood - raises new questions about the
congregation's fiscal management.
Church officials declined yesterday to offer any answers.
"My hopes are that at some time I will be able to respond," said
spokesman Bryan Miller. "But at this point, no comment."
In the days after the July 10 fire , the church received offers of
help from Mayor Sheila Dixon and money from supporters around the
country, Brown said.
Brown has reassured his 3,000-member congregation that First Mount
Olive will receive a $4 million insurance payout.
A spokeswoman for GuideOne Insurance said yesterday that the company
will honor the church's insurance policy, but that it "may be several
weeks before a final valuation is determined."
City investigators determined a few days after the blaze that it was
sparked by the lightning.
In addition to facing multiple foreclosure suits over the still-unpaid
2005 water bill of $12,342 and other municipal bills, First Mount
Olive was notified just days before the fire that the property it
acquired in 2002 would be auctioned at the end of this month. The
church is accused of defaulting on its $1.5 million mortgage, held by
SunTrust Bank, records show.
The auctioneer, Atlantic Asset Management Group, says the foreclosure
sale is scheduled to go on July 26.
Yesterday, a spokesman for Dixon said the mayor was unaware of the
church's financial problems when she offered to help and would not
discuss them. "We're just going to decline comment," said spokesman
Anthony McCarthy.
Rabbi Steven M. Fink of Temple Oheb Shalom said Dixon's office helped
arrange for First Mount Olive to temporarily hold Sunday services at
the 800-seat synagogue in Northwest Baltimore, starting Sunday.
According to car ownership records obtained by The Sun, and confirmed
by the state Motor Vehicle Administration, the church registered the
2002 Bentley Arnage sedan in 2005.
Matthew Smith, a car salesman at EuroMotorcars in Bethesda said a
Bentley Arnage, which takes as long as three months to construct by
hand, costs at least $225,000 new. He estimated that the car the
church bought was worth between $130,000 and $150,000, assuming it was
in good condition. Today, it is worth about $120,000, he said.
Hynes daughter, Ingrid Heigs, said Brown typically kept the Bentley
parked in a fenced-in portion of the church property.
"If you're in that kind of debt, you would think instead of buying a
Bentley you would pay your bills up and stay out of foreclosure,"
Heigs said. "But if his congregation felt as though he was worth
buying a Bentley for, who's to say that he wasn't?"
Brown did not return a call yesterday placed to his Howard County
home, a 3,800-square house built in 1997 and appraised for tax
purposes at about $600,000.
A late model Lexus SC430 sports car was parked in front of his house
yesterday.
"That's really nice, that he drives a Bentley," said Fink, the rabbi.
"I'll have to see if he'll give me a ride."
The 43-year-old bishop is not the only religious leader in Baltimore's
inner city to travel in extravagant style.
The Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant of Northwest Baltimore's Empowerment
Temple drives a leased 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur, according
to state records.
If I worked for the Insurance Company I'd look very carefully into that bolt
of lightening theory.
Why didn't the church have a lightening conductor?
It seems rather fortuitous that the church was destroyed just as forclosure
proceedings were about to start.
I bet the Bentley was unscathed. The insurance money will probably cover all
the debt.
Cynical...me...never!
Smiler,
The godless one
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: Sell all your belonings and give the money to the poor....more on the Mt Olive Church in Baltimore |
26 Jul 2007 12:03:18 AM |
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On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:31:59 -0700, Hatter <Hatter23@gmail.com> wrote:
The First Mount Olive Free Will Baptist Church bought a luxurious
custom Bentley in 2005, the same year the inner-city church failed to
pay a $12,000 water bill that has led to the filing of a foreclosure
suit, motor vehicle records show.
That was to bring food to the poor. You wouldn't want the poor to be
embarrassed by having the church bring them food in an old car, would
you?
Brown has reassured his 3,000-member congregation that First Mount
Olive will receive a $4 million insurance payout.
A spokeswoman for GuideOne Insurance said yesterday that the company
will honor the church's insurance policy, but that it "may be several
weeks before a final valuation is determined."
City investigators determined a few days after the blaze that it was
sparked by the lightning.
That would be an act of God, so how can they claim an insurance
pay-out? Insurance policies always exempt acts of God from coverage.
In addition to facing multiple foreclosure suits over the still-unpaid
2005 water bill of $12,342 and other municipal bills, First Mount
Olive was notified just days before the fire that the property it
acquired in 2002 would be auctioned at the end of this month. The
church is accused of defaulting on its $1.5 million mortgage, held by
SunTrust Bank, records show.
How convenient. They need about $1.512 million and, just in the nick
of time, they're going to get $4 million. If I didn't think that
Christians were such honest people I'd suspect that there may be more
to this that is readily apparent.
(I think I need to wash my mouth out with industrial grade nitric
acid.)
Brown did not return a call yesterday placed to his Howard County
home, a 3,800-square house built in 1997 and appraised for tax
purposes at about $600,000.
A late model Lexus SC430 sports car was parked in front of his house
yesterday.
I guess this sect doesn't believe in vows of poverty. Or even vows of
a tiny bit of modesty.
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