That Manhattan Campaign
Several years ago the church in Manhattan decided it needed a one million dollar building in which to meet. In 1957 they wrote churches all over the country begging them to contribute one half of a fifth Sunday's contribution to their building program. In response to their appeals other churches sent them $100,000.00 from a single fifth Sunday's contributions.
Then a few years ago the Manhattan Church decided to build a sixteen story building, the first four floors to be used by the church, and the top twelve floors to be sold. They said this would decrease the overall cost of their building. However, after their many appeals and after many pictures of their proposed sixteen story building had been printed in various papers, the Manhattan Church announced that they had decided to again plan on a "single purpose building." In view of so many changes, I do not see how brethren and churches over the country could be so gullible as to keep sending the Manhattan Church money for their project.
I have a letter before me from the Manhattan Church of Christ dated February 5, 1964. This letter states the following facts:
1. Brethren from all over the country have already contributed $850,000.00 to the Manhattan building fund.
2. Yet, the building has not been started.
3. However, they do have a debt free building site.
4. They have $330,000.00 in a building fund.
5. They will have to have another $170,000.00 before they will be able to start clearing the site for construction.
6 When they can get other churches to send them the necessary $170,000.00, they will borrow an additional $500, 000.00 and start construction.
7. Their goal is to reach this point in 1964.
8. In order to accomplish this, they write: "We therefore respectfully request your assistance in this special Fifth Sunday for Manhattan Campaign. March 29th and May 31st are both fifth Sundays this year. We pray that you will devote one or both of those dates to help reach our goal...."
The Manhattan Church has about three hundred members, with three elders and two "ministers." It does seem that they would be able to build and pay for their own meeting house! However, brethren have contributed $850,000.00 to their building fund; and they are still not able to start construction on their building — they must wait until brethren send them another $170,000.00! "There is something rotten in Denmark," I'd say.
If the Manhattan elders stay hitched to their present plans for this "single purpose building," and if they can get other congregations to send them another $170,000.00, and if they can then borrow another $500,000.00, they will construct a building at a total cost of at least $1,520,000.00. That's right; one million, five hundred and twenty thousand dollars, with at least $1,020,000.00 of that amount being contributed by other congregations to enable this little "mission point" of three hundred members to build them a building; and when they already had a building that would seat three hundred anyway! And because I object to such as this, I am called an "anti" and not considered worthy of fellowship by "on the march" churches that go along with all this unscriptural non-sense.
— 1502 S. 3rd Street, Tucumcari, New Mexico