The Church That Used to Be St. Elmo's (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781632133946)

$87 Million . . . a blessing? Or a curse?

St. Elmo's Church receives a lavish, anonymous gift of $87 million--on condition that it change its name. Another condition is that the church be united in accepting the gift. But church members and especially its pastor, Haydon Beckett, quickly discover that this act of grace comes with a price: they get all kinds of requests for a share of the church's anticipated wealth; a media frenzy erupts that would place the gift in jeopardy if the donor is identified; and rising tensions emerge within the church over how to spend the money.

Pastor Beckett finds that managing this transition becomes more complicated, as his apparently healthy church community struggles to embrace this gift while staying focused on its mission. Previously submerged rifts within the church come to the surface, with surprising results that force St. Elmo's to see God's grace in a new way.