HAMMOND (IL)
NWI Times
By Chelsea Schneider Kirk
chelsea.schneider@nwi.com, (219) 933-3241
HAMMOND | Layoffs have hit the First Baptist Church of Hammond with a quarter of the church’s staff estimated to be let go, a church spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
The layoffs come in the wake of a federal guilty plea by the church’s former head Pastor Jack Schaap, who admitted to a sexual relationship with an underage parish girl he had been counseling.
Church officials said incoming donations to the parish have been “pretty much the same” since the July firing of Schaap.
However, church leaders decided to wrap an approximately $1 million per year loan payment into its budget, which forced the layoffs, said Eddie Lapina, the church’s interim pastor.
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