A majority of pastors are blaming a poor economy for their struggling bottom lines after experiencing double-digit declines to zero improvement in financial offerings from churchgoers over the last year, data from a new study released by Lifeway Research show — but the sentiment is divided along political lines.
“National trends of a favorable stock market along with unfavorable inflation and interest can influence a local congregation’s finances, but so do more local factors that contribute to economic problems or prosperity in the church’s community,” Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a statement on the study. “In general, pastors have turned a little more negative in describing economic forces impacting their church this year.”
The study, which is based on a phone survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors conducted Aug. 8–Sept. 3, included participants who described themselves as senior pastor, minister or priest.
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Pastors, in general, reported an average increase in giving at their churches of 0.15%. However, a deeper look at the findings shows that some 43% of pastors saw no change in the offerings compared to 2023. Another 4% said they saw a decline of 25% or more in offerings, while 12% reported declines of 10% to 24%. An additional 5% of pastors in the study said they saw giving at their churches fall by 9% or less. Some 66% of U.S. Protestant pastors say the economy is very much or somewhat negatively impacting their church.
While about 10% of pastors in the study said they weren’t sure how the economy affected their offerings, some 12% said they saw an increase of up to 9%. Another 10% saw increases in giving ranging from 10% to 24%, and 4% of respondents in the study reported growth in their offerings of 25% or more.
Researchers also found that 79% of Republican pastors, and those planning to vote for former President Donald Trump, 83%, were most likely to say the economy is negatively impacting their church. Democratic pastors, on the other hand, were more likely to report that the economy is having a positive impact, 21%, or no impact, 34%, on their offerings.
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On average, pastors supporting Harris said they saw a 4.27% growth in giving this year, while pastors supporting Trump say they saw a 2.38% decline.
“Overall, pastors’ perceptions of the economy’s impact on their churches are statistically related to the pastor’s own politics. Since both politics and economics are external factors to a local church, it is not surprising that the influences become combined for some,” McConnell said. “More surprising is that pastors report actual offerings which fit these differences in political leanings.”
Source: The Christian Post.
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