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Minn. Man Wants Church Donation Back
CLOQUET, Minn. (AP) -- A 55-year-old man is suing a local church because it won't give back a $126,000 donation he gave during a deep depression five years ago.
Marcel Mager, of Cloquet, said he made the anonymous donation during a time of emotional distress and thought giving the church money would ease his pain. His wife had left him two weeks prior to the January 1999 donation. It was nearly their entire life savings.
After five months of antidepressants and counseling, Mager said he asked for the money back. But leaders at the Cloquet Gospel Tabernacle church said no. They had already used the money for new family ministry space.
Mager told the head pastor, the Rev. Richard Doebler, he was not of sound mind when he made the donation.
"I was really confused at the time, really depressed," said Mager, an unemployed optometrist. "I didn't even confide in my wife that I had done it."
The church board held the line: Mager gave them the money, and churches nationwide have historically not given donations back - no matter the circumstances.
Mager quietly lobbied the church board and Doebler for the money to be returned. Years passed, and Mager lost hope for a quiet resolution.
He filed a lawsuit against the church in 2002. The two sides have been exchanging paperwork ever since, with no immediate legal end in sight.
"It's clear they aren't concerned about me, they only want my money," Mager said last week. He decided to go public in the hopes that the church will give back the money.
Mager might have a difficult time getting his money back in court, said Richard Hammar, an expert in church law and tax code in Springfield, Mo. Hammar publishes a nationwide newsletter on church finances, Church Law & Tax Report.
Mager's only hope is to prove he was not of sound mind when he made the donation, Hammar said.
But that can be extremely difficult because families of people with more permanent mental ailments - such as Alzheimer's disease - have failed to get large donations overturned, Hammar said. "He really has an uphill battle."
Even more rare is for a church to willingly give back a donation, Hammar said. "I tell people that if they do that, they better open up an office for everybody to come make their case," he said.
Mager's change of heart is confounding to church leaders because the letter he sent with the cashier's check seemed so genuine, Doebler said.
"He felt some remorse for some past actions and he wanted to make it right with God," Doebler said, recounting the letter. "At the time, we were taking it on good faith that this is what he wanted. It was hard to know what we were dealing with since it was anonymous."
Church leaders feel really bad about the situation, Doebler said. "We'd have preferred to work it out amiably."
Mager insists he didn't donate the money to spite his wife, but merely hoped it would lead to some spiritual relief. In fact, his now ex-wife told the church to keep the money.
CLOQUET, Minn. (AP) -- A 55-year-old man is suing a local church because it won't give back a $126,000 donation he gave during a deep depression five years ago.
Marcel Mager, of Cloquet, said he made the anonymous donation during a time of emotional distress and thought giving the church money would ease his pain. His wife had left him two weeks prior to the January 1999 donation. It was nearly their entire life savings.
After five months of antidepressants and counseling, Mager said he asked for the money back. But leaders at the Cloquet Gospel Tabernacle church said no. They had already used the money for new family ministry space.
Mager told the head pastor, the Rev. Richard Doebler, he was not of sound mind when he made the donation.
"I was really confused at the time, really depressed," said Mager, an unemployed optometrist. "I didn't even confide in my wife that I had done it."
The church board held the line: Mager gave them the money, and churches nationwide have historically not given donations back - no matter the circumstances.
Mager quietly lobbied the church board and Doebler for the money to be returned. Years passed, and Mager lost hope for a quiet resolution.
He filed a lawsuit against the church in 2002. The two sides have been exchanging paperwork ever since, with no immediate legal end in sight.
"It's clear they aren't concerned about me, they only want my money," Mager said last week. He decided to go public in the hopes that the church will give back the money.
Mager might have a difficult time getting his money back in court, said Richard Hammar, an expert in church law and tax code in Springfield, Mo. Hammar publishes a nationwide newsletter on church finances, Church Law & Tax Report.
Mager's only hope is to prove he was not of sound mind when he made the donation, Hammar said.
But that can be extremely difficult because families of people with more permanent mental ailments - such as Alzheimer's disease - have failed to get large donations overturned, Hammar said. "He really has an uphill battle."
Even more rare is for a church to willingly give back a donation, Hammar said. "I tell people that if they do that, they better open up an office for everybody to come make their case," he said.
Mager's change of heart is confounding to church leaders because the letter he sent with the cashier's check seemed so genuine, Doebler said.
"He felt some remorse for some past actions and he wanted to make it right with God," Doebler said, recounting the letter. "At the time, we were taking it on good faith that this is what he wanted. It was hard to know what we were dealing with since it was anonymous."
Church leaders feel really bad about the situation, Doebler said. "We'd have preferred to work it out amiably."
Mager insists he didn't donate the money to spite his wife, but merely hoped it would lead to some spiritual relief. In fact, his now ex-wife told the church to keep the money.
What an idiot. "Well, money didn't buy me happiness so I want it back. Let me try this again"
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