Credit Crunch and Church Crunch!

Following is the Comment by  a Church Official in Germany on Global Financial Crisis in a BBC survey Germany voices: ‘Greed eats brains!’

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7687473.stm

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Mr Friedrichs is a senior official of the Lutheran Church of Oldenburg. The church has been directly affected by the credit crunch. In recent years, its income has been hit by a drop in membership fees. But its expenses remained the same.

So, to boost the coffers, the local church put its faith in financial markets and made an investment in Lehman Brothers. As a result, the church is set to lose its 4.3m-euro investment.

“Lehman Brothers securities were considered a good, safe investment”

“We were forced to think about the income for our church,” Mr Friedrichs explains. “Lehman Brothers securities were considered a good, safe investment.”

Standing outside St Lambert’s Church in the centre of Oldenburg, I ask him what the reaction has been from members of the church.

“People have reacted in different ways,” he tells me. “Some show a total lack of understanding and ask: ‘How could you have done this?’ Others just say they are sad that it has happened and that it is just bad luck.”

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