A Chicago-area church may be forced to close if it can’t raise $300,000 in two months to repay donations by a businessman who’s been convicted of running a Ponzi scheme.

According to a complaint by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Kenneth Courtright, founder of Today’s Growth Consultant Incorporated (TGC), donated $780,059 to Messiah Lutheran Church in Joliet, Illinois, over more than a decade. Since then, Courtright has been convicted of wire fraud connected to a $75 million Ponzi scheme, which defrauded more than 500 investors.

Now, the SEC is seeking the “return of ill-gotten gains.” And on August 17, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled that Messiah Lutheran must repay $487,000 by November 15 or the amount will increase to $587,000. The church has already paid back $187,000, but says for a church of 350 people, paying back the rest in such a short time is nearly impossible.

“We don’t have that money,” stated Beth Hohisel, a longtime member and recent church board president, in a video produced by the church. “We have used that money in our ministry. We’ve paid our staff. We’ve sent our youth to youth camp. We kept our lights on in our building. That money is long gone.”

Messiah Lutheran Senior Pastor Kurt Hoover added in the video that the church cannot take out a loan to pay the SEC. Messiah Lutheran has launched an awareness and fundraising campaign, dubbed “Save Messiah,” and is hoping the community will help it raise the required funds.

“We need our community’s help,” Hoover said in the video. “And if we don’t do that, I’m out of a job. The ministry and the benevolence we do in the community will vanish. I’m sure someone else will take up that mantle. But this church home that people have invested in for 120 years will cease to exist simply because we’re numbers on a page to a federal entity.”  

An FAQ page for Save Messiah states that the church “did not do anything wrong and is not accused of wrongdoing.” 

However, Melanie Damian, the receiver appointed by the court to take control of TGC’s assets, argued in a court filing that Messiah Lutheran “received substantial amounts of funds from TGC without providing value to TGC in exchange for those funds.” Damian called Messiah Lutheran and other charities benefitting from TGC “insiders” and claimed they “knew or should have known of TGC’s fraudulent scheme.”

On its website, leaders of Messiah Lutheran counter this claim. “The church was not an insider,” it states. “Like most non-profits, Messiah receives gifts in good faith, they (sic) take careful precautions that not even the pastors know who gives or how much they give.”

The statement continued that Messiah “will review and make a determination on whether to accept gifts wired from a business. (The church) will also consult with any member family that gives more than 10% of an annual budget in any given year.” 

The funds Messiah Lutheran returns to the SEC will be distributed to former investors in TGC. Such claims from defrauded investors, referred to as a “claw back” settlement, have increased in recent years according to analysis published by the Brooklyn Law Review. While some states impose limits on clawback funds involving charitable or religious groups, Illinois law allows claims to go back a decade.

Other nonprofit groups named in the SEC complaint, including Joliet Catholic Academy and Legacy Families, had received significantly smaller sums linked to the alleged fraud scheme. According to court records, those groups have settled with the court-appointed law firm. 

In a long-form church-produced video obtained by The Roys Report (TRR), Hoover said that a church attorney tried to reach a settlement, including offers that would have involved Messiah Lutheran selling a portion of its church campus. But the law firm representing investors’ interests “rejected several settlement offers.” 

Hoover added: “Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a sum of money that was large enough for the SEC receiver to accept but small enough to not destroy the ministry of Messiah Lutheran Church.” 

‘Save Messiah’

Founded in 1901, Messiah Lutheran Church is affiliated with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, a centrist denomination among Lutheran church bodies. 

Donations to the “Save Messiah” campaign will go to a separate nonprofit group, according to the group’s website. Funds will cover the financial judgment against the church and reimburse considerable legal fees that the church has incurred. 

Hoover framed the church’s current financial struggle in biblical terms.

“The Goliath that we’re fighting is a federal government that does not care if the ministry of Messiah Lutheran Church continues,” he said. “To them, we’re just numbers on a page. But our local community very much does care about whether or not Messiah Lutheran continues to do the ministry that God has called us to.” 

Longtime leaders in local community outreach affirmed the pastor’s assertion. 

In the video, Patty Hall, executive director of the Galowich Family YMCA in Joliet, said that students have been helped by after-school programs, youth basketball, and summer camps hosted by the church.

“Our community needs Messiah Lutheran Church,” said Hall. “We need a place where people feel like they’re at home, they’re together, they’re a family. And that’s what Messiah Lutheran Church is to this community and to community partners like the Y.” 

Hoover said that at least 10% of Messiah Lutheran’s income is given to charitable causes. “Last year, in 2022, we gave $60,000,” said Hoover. “We tithe our members’ gifts (to) local, national and international nonprofits . . . All of that would cease if Messiah Lutheran were not here.” 

According to a GiveSendGo page tracking Messiah Lutheran’s progress, the church has raised $7,120 towards its goal. 

Facing the imminent threat of closing, Hoover offered an urgent appeal.

“Please help us prevent that from happening,” he said. “You have the ability to save Messiah.”

Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his family live in the Washington, D.C. area.