Pastor, Who Made out Deposit Slip Last Year in Faith, receives $1.5 Million Anonymous Donation Days Ago—Enough to Pay Off New Building

Aimee Herd : Dec 11, 2008
Glenn Evans – News-Journal

"The Lord wanted to show His power, in that, He is not limited. And He is not joining us in this economy that is going on, on the earth. That's what I love so much about it coming now. It just makes it so much more powerful, that He would choose this time ... and Christmas."

Rev. Thomas McDaniels, Pastor of LifeBridge Christian Center, received a wonderful anonymous Christmas gift last week; a $1.5 million donation. The most remarkable part of this donation is that McDaniels—by faith—sat down last year, made out a deposit slip for $1.4 million to pay off his congregation's new building, set it aside and waited.

McDaniels has the privilege of meeting his benefactor personally. "He actually took me in his Hummer and talked to me for three hours and handed me a check," Pastor McDaniels explained to local media.

The LifeBridge congregation, which reportedly averages about 325 people, has been meeting since 2005 in the conference center of a nearby Ramada Inn. With a "no-debt strategy," the church together bought 23 acres of property, paying cash, then proceeded to construct a 15,700 square foot building, where they plan to begin meeting soon. (Photo by: Justin Baker/News-Journal)

According to the News-Journal report, McDaniels and his wife had hoped the $1.4 million bank note would somehow be taken care of, and that's when he made out the deposit slip.

"I made out a deposit slip in January of 2007 for the money as a faith statement," McDaniels said. "When I broke the news (of the donation) to our leadership team, I made copies of that and the actual deposit (slip) that went in the bank."

Charlotte, his wife noted that, "The Lord wanted to show His power, in that, He is not limited. And He is not joining us in this economy that is going on, on the earth. That's what I love so much about it coming now. It just makes it so much more powerful, that He would choose this time ... and Christmas."

Another interesting aspect to the church is the Prayer Garden, which was the first thing to go up on the newly-purchased property. It has become a popular place of rest for many in the community, who don't even attend LifeBridge. Businessmen and women head there on their lunch hours to pray.

Reaching out to the community seems to be a norm for the church, in the last three years, the congregation has reportedly given $500,000 to local charities.