Megachurches receive small business loans

City of Destiny, the church led by President Donald Trump’s personal pastor, Paula White-Cain, received between $150,000 and $350,000 in loans from the federal coronavirus stimulus package. Religious organizations—including megachurches, Catholic dioceses, and Jewish groups—received a total of $7.3 billion from the Payroll Protection Program, meant to buffer small businesses against the pandemic, according to a list released by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Who else was on the list? Joyce Meyer Ministries Inc. in Missouri and Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, whose founder and former pastor Bill Hybels has faced accusations of misconduct, appeared in the list’s $5 million to $10 million bracket. Robert Jeffress’ 14,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas and Guillermo Maldonado’s King Jesus International Ministry in Miami received between $2 million and $5 million in loans.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew about why some churches were hesitant to accept loans through the program.