News from around the religious nonprofit world:
- Churches seek “new normal”: While many churches say donations are increasing, a new poll shows that most are facing a new economic reality, says The Christian Post. A survey of more than 1,000 churches released Monday by the group LifeWay showed that nearly 75 percent of churches raised enough to meet their budget requirements so far in 2011. But demand for social-services aid is so high that many churches say they still can’t meet demand, so they are continuing to look for volunteers and other resources to help them stretch their budgets.
- Incentives for Jews to live in Detroit: Jewish charities in Detroit are attempting to raise $100,000 to encourage young Jews to move to and remain in the Motor City, writes The Detroit Free Press. The project, called “Do It for Detroit,” will offer subsidies of $250 a month to young Jews to live in the city. Recipients of the subsidy must agree to host one community event a month.
- Homeless in Ohio pay it forward: After local residents in Lorain, Ohio, complained of panhandling and other disturbances, a group called Pass It On Ministries organized a group of homeless people and church volunteers to clean up the town’s City Hall, according to The Morning Journal, in northern Ohio. Volunteers cut grass, pulled weeds, and collected trash around City Hall.
- Slower pace for ground-zero mosque: The organizers behind the controversial Muslim community center and mosque planned for near ground zero may scale back the project, according to The New York Times. The group has hired a professional fund-raising staff, but it may never become the $100- million 15-story center that they initially envisioned, and construction may not begin for another five years.
