FINANCIAL AND SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
To pay for the expansion program of 2004, Advent incurred substantial long-term debt backed by mortgages on the church property. In this regard, Advent issued about $900,000 of bonds and borrowed another $600,000. In 2005 the Securities Exchange Commission determined that the owners of Advent’s bond-servicing company were running a criminal enterprise (Ponzi scheme) bilking scores of churches out of millions of dollars. They were convicted and are now in jail. However, this disrupted Advent’s payments on the bonds and sent shock waves through the parish. On top of that, the economy in the Detroit area has been hit hard by the recession and the bankruptcies of GM, Chrysler, and several automotive suppliers. As a result, Advent has not been able to fully meet its debts and still owes approximately $1.2 million.
In October, 2010, Advent received notice from a court-appointed receiver on the mortgage note that Advent must come up with a plan to pay off the note or it will initiate foreclosure proceedings on the mortgage. We are now expecting it will be necessary to sell the church facility to pay off the debts.
Nevertheless, there remains a solid core group of committed Christians at Advent who will continue to worship and serve the Lord obediently. With our fervent prayer and steadfast faith, God will surely lead us to where He would have us and will send a spiritual leader for the journey. And we will continue to rejoice and praise Him!