Rick Warren needs $900,000 What do you think he ought to get???

Rick Warren Pleads to Flock for Cash

By Michelle Garcia

The Rev. Rick Warren has pleaded to parishioners of his Christian mega church for donations to fill a $900,000 gap in the budget.

Warren, who has campaigned for the passage of Proposition 8, sent an urgent letter to followers of the Saddleback Church on December 30, saying that he needed the money within 48 hours.

"With 10% of our church family out of work due to the recession, our expenses in caring for our community in 2009 rose dramatically while our income stagnated," he wrote. "Still, with wise management, we've stayed close to our budget all year. Then... this last weekend the bottom dropped out."

The weekly offering was less than half of a typical offering, leaving them $900,000 in the hole for 2009. However, he followed up on his blog, that the gap is not due to mismanagement of funds.

"Because our church attracts a lot of attention, the media will undoubtedly report my letter, but only partially, not telling the whole story," he wrote, asking parishioners not to let the attention bother them.