Pastor’s plea helps raise $2.4 million

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Evangelical pastor Rick Warren’s plea for donations to fill a $900,000 deficit at his Southern California megachurch brought in $2.4 million, Warren announced to cheers during a sermon at the church on Saturday.

Warren said the amount raised after the appeal was posted online Wednesday included only money parishioners brought in person to Saddleback Church by New Year’s Eve. More was arriving by hand and by mail, he said.

“This is pretty amazing,” Warren told his congregation. “I don’t think any church has gotten a cash offering like that off a letter.”

Warren said the church had largely managed to stay within its budget during the year, but “the bottom dropped out” when Christmas donations were down.