October 19, 1987, will forever be remembered as Black Monday in the financial world. The Dow plunged, like an out-of-control airplane, a record-scorching 508 points. In seven hours, investors lost some $500 billion in equity values. Smaller brokerages were forced out of business. Traders were let go. And now, more than a year later, according to reports, smaller investors still have not regained confidence in Wall Street.

What happens when a local church experiences a similar financial downturn? What exactly does ministry mean when a church faces a fiscal crisis, whether moderate or severe, and what's the pastor's responsibility?

LEADERSHIP posed those questions to four pastors who have experienced money crunches of varying kinds. As an introduction to their discussion of the underlying issues, here is each pastor's account of how his church found itself in a hole.

Aborted Bequest

Jim Smith

Elim Baptist Church

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Late in 1983, a former parishioner at Elim approached my predecessor ...