Church Member Giving Rate: 2.56%
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Tue, November 28, 2006
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- (7) comments so far
Church giving increased from 1998 to 2001, recovering to early 1970s levels before decreasing to the current average.
The study also found more than 85 percent of contributions to churches funded the general operations of the local congregation, while about 15 percent went toward “benevolence,” which was defined as for “the broader mission of the church, beyond the local congregation.”
“Both of these numbers raise the question, ‘Has the church lost its vision?’ “ Mrs. Ronsvalle said. “Is the church turning into a club, or does the church see itself as salt?”
Brian McAuliffe , chief financial officer and director of operations at Willow Creek Community Church, thinks increasing church attendance may cause per capita giving to decrease.
“A lot of times people who are new to churches don’t understand giving back to God,” he said, whose South Barrington, Ill. “It may take a couple of years before someone feels comfortable and says, ‘Yes, I really believe in this, and I want to give to support that.’ “
Mrs. Ronsvalle said giving began declining in the 1950s when poor Americans became a minority.
“When everyone was poor, you obviously gave. You knew that your kids were one step away from it,” she said. “When we all started getting comfortable in this world ... ministers found that people weren’t so excited hearing about the poor.”
The study estimates the cost of global evangelization—helping to stop global childhood death, providing primary education for all children worldwide and addressing poverty in the U.S.—would cost $15 billion annually, or 28 cents per American Christian per day.
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It’s a question of leadership,” Mrs. Ronsvalle said. “Who can galvanize people to say, ‘We don’t want to live in a world where people are dying?’ “
The Rev. Frank van Dalen, executive director of the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church’s foreign missions board, said increasing funding for missions prompts giving to the local church to increase.
“The local budget is never harmed by giving to missions,” he said. “Giving starts to drop when you become focused only on your own needs.”
SOURCE: The Washington Times
Church members continue to give less of their income to churches despite increases in membership, according to a study released today by Empty Tomb Inc. "The church as an investment in people's lifestyles is losing market share," said Sylvia Ronsvalle, co-author of the study, "The State of Church Giving Through 2004." Church members gave 2.56 percent of their income in 2004, down from 3.11 percent in 1968, according to the last study on data analyzed by Mrs. Ronsvalle and her husband, John L. Ronsvalle. Both figures are well shy of the biblical 10 percent tithe.
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Peter Hamm on Tue, November 28, 2006
“The local budget is never harmed by giving to missions,” he said. “Giving starts to drop when you become focused only on your own needs.”
That’s true… BUT…
The local church IS a “mission” and thus, in a sense, ALL the spending a church does is benevolence, and missional. Not just the part that goes to the ends of the earth. Often when looking at these kinds of numbers in the way this and other recent articles do, we forget that.
Leonard on Tue, November 28, 2006
We are far too in debt as a people to allow the kind of generous giving that God describes in his word. It is a part of living in a materialistic culture. I can speak about the most personal issues of a person’s life and get thanked, but when I speak about money I get hammered. Our checkbooks tell us what we believe and who we love. Facts are facts. Believe in tithing or not, believe in stewardship or not, I don’t care. The reality is satan wins when the church fails to give. I just spoke to several pastors, all of which had to cut their budgets. What did the cut? Outreach. It is sad.
Jan on Tue, November 28, 2006
My husband jokingly refers to the majority of our congregation as “God Tippers”
The “Hey I liked today’s sermon so I’ll put $20 in the plate” people.
Not sure what the answer is, teaching yes. But I think it’s going to take a movement of the Holy Spirit to stir the hearts of our people.
So, I think prayer is key too.
Dean on Tue, November 28, 2006
I’m into giving but not organizational support. Seems like contributing money to a religious organization (which church folks like to refer to as Biblical tithing—a misnomer if I ever saw one) is not really about “giving” at all. Am I making sense? It troubles me that the evangelical sector in particular of the Church dismisses any serious evaluation of teaching so-called “Biblcal” tithing at all. So while some may deride those who don’’t practice organizational support, others like me simply refuse to be demeaned because we practice giving (and stewardship) in a more holistic way.
Jan on Tue, November 28, 2006
Could you clarify Dean? What is giving in “a more holistic way”?
Seems to me that giving “organizational support” is the practical way we support ministry. How else do we plant churches, support missions and ministries that do the work of ministry?
Just wondering…
Lawrence Surles Sr on Fri, December 22, 2006
Leadership in most case give less porportionately than members do. How can afford 3 or 4 luxury cars while others in their church is in need? Who’s really robbing God?
Pastor Emmanuel Osei on Mon, July 30, 2007
I want to be part conference
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