Presentation Type
Oral/Paper Presentation
Abstract
During the Covid-19 pandemic small businesses found themselves gasping for air as their employees felt the disaster. In an attempt to aid these choking businesses, the United States Small Business Administration alongside the Department of Treasury implemented the Paycheck Protection Program. Its aim targeted keeping employees paid and businesses open. The plot twist here is about who fits into that category of small businesses. Religious entities were included in this aid and suddenly, not only was the economic wall hit, so was the wall between religion and government. The US federal government, through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), funded approximately 85,000 religious institutions during Covid-19. An estimated ⅓ of American churches participated in the program. This paper investigates the discrepancy between churches that opted to apply for PPP funds and those that did not and asks specifically what ethical reasons may have informed these decisions. To answer this question, I conducted interviews with churches that received PPP funds and those that did not.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Susan Turner Haynes
Recommended Citation
Soderstrom Theodoriches, Alitrise, "The Penumbras: Religious Entities, Economic Stagnation, & Covid-19" (2025). Student Scholar Symposium. 125.
https://digitalcollections.lipscomb.edu/student_scholars_symposium/2025/Full_schedule/125
Included in
The Penumbras: Religious Entities, Economic Stagnation, & Covid-19
During the Covid-19 pandemic small businesses found themselves gasping for air as their employees felt the disaster. In an attempt to aid these choking businesses, the United States Small Business Administration alongside the Department of Treasury implemented the Paycheck Protection Program. Its aim targeted keeping employees paid and businesses open. The plot twist here is about who fits into that category of small businesses. Religious entities were included in this aid and suddenly, not only was the economic wall hit, so was the wall between religion and government. The US federal government, through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), funded approximately 85,000 religious institutions during Covid-19. An estimated ⅓ of American churches participated in the program. This paper investigates the discrepancy between churches that opted to apply for PPP funds and those that did not and asks specifically what ethical reasons may have informed these decisions. To answer this question, I conducted interviews with churches that received PPP funds and those that did not.