Poring a Foundation

State prosecutors, regulators scrutinize the Baptist Foundation of Arizona

A A A Comments By Terry Greene Sterling Thursday, Dec 10 1998

...continued from page 5

In the circular, which states that BFA's net worth is $12.4 million, BFA offers to borrow $50 million through "Easy Access Investment Agreements"--term loans of $50 or more with principal redeemed at any time. The collateral is not specified. The circular says it plans to "sell" the nonguaranteed notes predominantly to "members and constituents of Southern Baptist churches, their family members and friends as well as the churches themselves."

"Our investment results this year have been outstanding," Crotts wrote.
"These are wonderful days of blessing, but they have not come without attacks from Satan, our spiritual enemy," Crotts wrote. "I trust you will join me in seeing this as an assault on our common faith and begin to pray earnestly with me about it. Not only is this an assault on the values we as Christians hold dear, but I am also personally insulted because it totally mischaracterizes my 16 years of committed hard work at the Baptist Foundation of Arizona and BFA's 50 years of service to Arizona Southern Baptists."

Contact Terry Greene Sterling at 229-8437, or online at tgreene@newtimes.com