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Gone from the budget are those special offering envelopes with "Raleigh's Crossroads United Methodist Church" printed on the front. So are the new choir robes.

When the economy caused trustees to take another look at the cost of running the church, the Rev. Phyllis Coates declared everything fair game - except money set aside for the needy.

Coates, already grateful for what her members sacrifice, isn't even getting a raise this year.

"I've actually seen an increase of people coming to church because that's all they have left, that hope," said Coates, whose Guilford College Road church offers meals every first Sunday and provides the needy with gift cards to grocery stores as they can afford it. She also pastors Peace UMC, a smaller congregation in Summerfield.

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"But if you go to church and you are still going back home hungry, that takes the hope out of you," said Coates, who sees God's touch in the new robes eventually donated to the choir.

Houses of worship throughout the country are contemplating what this economic downturn means for their budgets and the people in the pews - even how to approach the annual stewardship campaign.

Parishioners in financial trouble often turn first to the church. And whether in a confessional booth or while walking through the church parking lot after services, faith leaders are hearing both from those who eke out a decent living and those whose six-figure jobs were considered secure.

"I have noticed churches responding, in part, in a very brass-tacks way," said Lauren Winner, a Duke University assistant professor of Christian spirituality and commentator for NPR's "All Things Considered." "I've lost count of the number of people who told me that last Sunday in church, an economics professor or financial planner who is in their congregation gave a Sunday school lesson explaining the economic crisis. I also see pastors teaching and preaching on the idea of 'Where is our true security?' Does it lie in money or in God?"

At First Baptist Church, where hiring for a soon-to-be-vacant staff position will be put off, the congregation's leadership developed a list of cost-cutting measures should the economy worsen. The ideas include a four-day work week and postponing some nonessentials, such as replacing aging computers and old carpeting.

"We will not cut programs and ministries unless the bottom drops out," the Rev. Ken Massey said.

The church this month will sponsor a community forum, "Discerning Our Economic Future," involving two panel discussions, with an investment broker, an economist and banker on one and a minister, ethicist and social service provider on the other. The church should deal with issues affecting people's lives, Massey said.

"I hope to use the financial piece to get people to think spiritually about the economy and our shared responsibility to help those who are hit hardest," Massey said.

At St. Mary's Catholic Church on Gorrell Street, which ministers to a large number of immigrants, Father Bob Stone has already seen some of that. Some members are carpooling to get to the grocery store. Giving has remained constant, even as the financial news remains bleak.

"We are getting more calls for assistance," Stone said. "If you compare us to the larger churches, we operate on a shoestring budget."

In the past couple of weeks, 500 people attended Mass conducted in Spanish and nearly 400 attended Mass in Vietnamese. Besides Stone and senior pastor Michael M. Nguyen, the church of more than 1,500 employs just one other person.

"There are many shop owners, especially in the Vietnamese community," Stone said.

"They are not beside themselves with worry. They just go on, doing their best."

St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in High Point, too, is seeing growth, and would like to give the part-time youth director more hours. But there's little flexibility, parishioners have seen themselves by going over the church budget.

"When they look at the line items they say, 'We don't see any fat,' " said the Rev. Ken Kroohs, the only full-time employee. "That doesn't mean we won't have to eventually cut back, but it will be in the muscle."

The collapse of Wall Street came just as Trinity AME Zion Church on Florida Street had broken ground on an expansion project. Financing was already in place, though members will still have to pay back the bank.

"In the religion world we still walk by faith and not by sight," said the Rev. Michael Frencher, senior pastor. "We are still trying to teach 'to trust in God' to get us through these times."

But faith is not a passive word, he says.

"I'm not telling people to sit idly by and watch God work," Frencher said. "To those whose wages have been cut back, it's find a way to cut back on expenses or look for other ways to supplement that lost income. I'm already seeing more people cutting back on their going out to eat, on the luxury bills. I did have a member cut his cable off."

But Frencher, who guides troubled people to Psalm 46, doesn't want to overreact. That passage begins with, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble."

"There's nothing wrong with rethinking your budget and some of the things you're doing," he said. The church, for example, could cut back on janitorial and lawn services. But "those are jobs in the community; they create opportunities for people."

Winner, who writes and lectures widely on Christian practice, says in the long haul the economic crisis might actually be good for people's faith.

"When I'm feeling most financially secure, I tend to think that I don't really need God," Winner said. "I do not at all want to romanticize poverty or financial hardship, but I think that, at least for one segment of the population - not the grindingly poor - there might be a spiritual lesson or two to be learned here. In theory, one lesson that tithing teaches is 'my money is not my own,' but for some of us the stock market falling may - perversely - teach the same lesson."

Winner is careful to distinguish among the different effects this financial crisis is having on people.

"There is a difference between the person who loses her job and the person who has to explain to her child why they can't have all the new winter clothes they want," Winner said. " I have nothing but sympathy and concern for the person who loses her job. But the person who has to tell her kid 'no' to, say, a new car - well, there I think, 'This might be good for us.' "

Winner also wonders whether there might be another unexpected impact on church life.

Many houses of worship pay for services that once were done on a volunteer basis by members of the church - youth group leadership, food preparation for Wednesday night suppers, caring for the grounds.

"This trend to pay for services is understandable, and I don't want to romanticize the good old days of volunteering - it was, after all, disproportionately women who were doing all that covered-dish baking," Winner said. "But at the same time, when we pay for these services, we are depriving ourselves of the opportunity to do embodied ministry ourselves."

Kroohs of St. Christopher's can agree with that.

"I have a theory that one of the reasons you see a declining church attendance ... is that very thing," said Kroohs, whose members spent part of last week erecting a playground instead of paying professionals to do it. The rest of the week was spent on two projects helping the homeless.

"People get to the point that they write a check and don't have the ownership and connections," said Kroohs. "When I was younger, men got to know each other on church work days, and women got to know each other in the church's kitchen.

"Until a month or two ago, it was easier to ask people for $50 than for an hour of their time," Kroohs said. "It may be that our priorities will shift because of this."

Kroohs used Sunday's sermon to remind people to stay focused on the things that really matter.

"Hard as it is for us to hear, the most affected person in the church is still not homeless, is still not starving, is still able to get reasonable medical care. And, compared to the rest of God's children around the world, we are wonderfully blessed and we should always remember that."

Contact Nancy H.McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com