A veil of white dust covers the organ, the pulpit and the pews at the Grand Lutheran Church in Fort Lauderdale, a house of God bought by developers who planned to raze it for townhouses.

Three years later, the steeple and stained glass still stand, and the developers are desperate to sell the church at 1801 NE 13th St. In a last-ditch marketing bid, they recently pitched signs that say, more or less, ``buy this church or we'll bulldoze it in 29 days.''

``I don't want to say it was a mistake, but churches are very difficult deals to move,'' said Danny Koplowitz, an investor in the property now listed for $3.25 million.

In South Florida's bleak real-estate market, houses for sale aren't the only glut. Churches and other religious properties, some of them bank foreclosures, are plentiful, and stuck in a commercial purgatory. Potential buyers -- mainly other churches -- are being shunned by lenders due to dwindling collection-plate revenues and fears of having to ``foreclose on God'' if the economy deteriorates further.

Last month, the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami closed down 13 struggling parishes throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Most of those church buildings are now for sale, said Mary Ross Agosta, the diocesan spokeswoman.

``It's like selling the family home you grew up in when your parents move to Florida or Alaska,'' said Ross Agosta. ``It's emotionally upsetting. These are places where people got married. They baptized their children there.''

SOCIETAL ANGUISH

The closure of a house of worship and its debut in real-estate listings differs from other commercial properties, though they are marketed, appraised and sold in much the same way.

Churches, synagogues and mosques are deeply woven into the communities that surround them and are hubs of civic life, learning and fellowship.

Although Harry Fatal is a Baptist, he said the Oct. 1 closing of the Catholic Divine Mercy Haitian Mission just up the street from his home in Fort Lauderdale cut a hole in the small Haitian neighborhood.

``The neighborhood feels it. When the church was there, you see people coming and going every day, every night. Now, you see, the corner is dead.''

The darkened church still makes Mary Lyce weep. She's lived across the street from the mission for the past 28 years.

``I love my church. I love my church,'' said Lyce, originally from Haiti. Lyce still prays in a small grotto accessible from the street, pleading for her family in her homeland, for white people, black people, poor people, rich people, she said. ``I pray for everybody.''

The recession is sparing no creed. In October, Fort Lauderdale-based Stonegate Bank filed a foreclosure against Chabad Lubavitch, a Boynton Beach synagogue, for a $3.8 million loan. Rabbi Sholom Ciment said the synagogue was not for sale but would not comment further.

Recently, too, Tabernacle of Pentecost Church in Royal Palm Beach entered foreclosure after falling behind on a $4.8 million loan. Pastor Daniel Kyle did not return calls for comment.

An inability to sell 12 foreclosed churches was partly behind the bankruptcy filing last year of Maitland-based Church Mortgage and Loan, which helped churches and ministries expand during the boom. The company's bankruptcy lawyer, Elizabeth Green of the Baker Hostetler firm in Orlando, said the company had sold only two churches since then.