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Hoping for a government solution often poses another dilemma for pastors, NAE president Anderson said. "Pastors are sitting around in social conversations where people are opposed to changes in federal health care, and the pastor is listening to this conversation without any insurance for his sick daughter. It sounds like a political statement, but it's a personal crisis."

For many pastors, having inadequate health insurance is embarrassing, Anderson said. It's a personal problem that they try to keep secret.

Yet denominations continue to face a bottom-line choice that often pits health insurance against fiscal feasibility.

"We have attempted in every way we know how [to provide health insurance]," said Teri Beyer, secretary treasurer for Open Bible Churches. "We feel terrible about it. It's not that we don't want to do this. But in today's insurance market, it's become impossible for us."

Other news stories on money and business are in our full-coverage section.

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August 2008, Vol. 52, No. 8