The Church and Its Money
This is a fascinating bunch of statistics...go to this website ...Generous Giving...for the whole story and many other resources.
1. American Christians enjoy unprecedented financial prosperity.
Eighty percent of the world’s evangelical wealth is in North America—and the total represents way more than enough to fund the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Total Christian [including nominal] income in the United States is $5.2 trillion annually, nearly half of the world’s total Christian income. In 2000, American evangelicals collectively made $2.66 trillion in income. In comparison, America’s gross domestic product in 2002 was estimated at $10.45 trillion.
2. American Christians are increasingly burdened by debt.
How have Christians fared in the midst of the financial chaos of record U.S. consumer debt? Not any better, said Christian financial advisor Larry Burkett: “The Christian world is no different from the secular world when it comes to debt, bankruptcy and divorce because priorities are misplaced.” Thirty-three percent of U.S. born-again Christians say it is impossible for them to get ahead in life because of the financial debt they have incurred. From another source, “Money is the number one separator of families today, even among Christians.”The disruption to relationships and the bondage that debt brings testify to the gravity of this growing problem.
3. American Christians are keeping all but a tiny fraction of their wealth for themselves.
While the amount of money that American Protestants give to churches has risen steadily since the end of Second World War, our rapidly increasing wealth has far outpaced any increase in giving. “Giving to religion has averaged annual, inflation-adjusted growth of 2.3 percent since 1963,” but in the same time period, disposable personal income has increased even more rapidly—by an average of 3 percent.Statistics show that the American church is less generous now, after a half-century of unprecedented prosperity, than it was at the depth of the Great Depression. Our church giving over the last two decades has remained stagnantly around 2.5 percent whereas 40 years ago Christians were giving 3 percent, and 80 years ago 3.5 percent. Our giving has fallen behind that of previous generations, and more importantly, behind the biblical standard. Only 6 percent of born-again Christians even tithed in 2002. And all the while, Americans own approximately 40 percent of the world’s wealth.
4. The Christian population is exploding worldwide.
The church has grown more in the 20th century than in all the previous centuries since the time of Christ combined, with almost 2 billion adherents worldwide. Every day 166,000 people hear the good news of Jesus Christ for the first time. Every year, 27 million people profess faith in Christ as Savior for the first time. The current ranks of 81 million believers in China are expected to swell to 135 million by 2025. The 50 million faithful in India could mushroom to 125 million by 2050. And today’s census of 90 million Christians in Africa is likely to explode to 1 billion in 2050.
5. The church’s geographic center is no longer in the developed West.
During the last century, the world’s Christian geographic center has been moving south. Currently, the largest Christian communities are in Africa and Latin America. “The country with the fastest Christian expansion ever is in China, now at 10,000 new converts every day.”
6. Mega-churches increasingly have no denominational affiliation.
“For the majority of megachurches, denominational affiliation is an insignificant matter. The church itself (its size, pastor, programs, and reputation) attracts adherents, not its denominational ties. Consequently, almost one half of all megachurches are independent and non-denominational. ... Actually, there are few overt differences between megachurches with denominational ties and those without them. Many of the large denominational congregations can be seen as functionally nondenominational. They have an appealing identity as a congregation, regardless of their ties to a denomination. These congregations often downplay their denominational connections by dropping reference to it from their name and literature. Neither do they have need for the denomination’s resources. If anything, the denomination benefits more from their presence and that of their gifted leaders. “The primary identity of a large Protestant congregation in America today is more likely to be caught up in the name, face, and personality of a long-tenured senior minister ... rather than in the denominational affiliation, theological convictions of the members, social class status of the lay leadership, or history of the congregation.”
7. Ministry leaders measure their own success by the size of their ministries.
“The vast majority of ministry leaders would never subscribe to a prosperity gospel ideology, but they are deeply infused with an American capitalist cultural understanding of the gospel—that God measures success by the numbers, that more money means more ministry, which means more success for God’s kingdom. So they tend to measure their own success as disciples and servants of the Lord by the size of their ministry. The ones whose ministries command millions are introduced on the prayer breakfast rostrums as God’s ‘choice servants.’ ”
8. Christians largely squander opportunities to invest where the harvest has the greatest potential.
In a world of 6.35 billion people, there are 2.51 billion who live among the “least-reached people groups”—populations where there are less than 2 percent evangelical Christians. In these places there is “no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize [its own] people group.” Consequently, the need for missionaries is great, and the work, though difficult, has great potential for spiritual harvest. Unfortunately, North American missions organizations tend to target population groups in already-evangelized countries, where converts come more quickly and easily. “96 percent of all foreign missionaries work among existing churches; only 4 percent work where no church exists.” And “40 percent of the church’s entire foreign mission resources are being deployed to just 10 over saturated countries already possessing strong citizen-run home ministries.” Thus, it is not that we lack the resources to evangelize the unreached but that we fail to make it a priority.
9. Churches are spending more on themselves, less on global mission outreach.
In North American churches, the percentage of church monies devoted to benevolences (ministries outside the local congregation) has fallen steadily since 1968. Many studies confirm that benevolences now make up only 15 percent of a church’s budget. A study by John and Sylvia Ronsvalle, however, puts this figure in its larger context. According to their research, benevolences made up 21.2 percent of a church’s budget in 1968. The figure has declined steadily over the years to its current 14.5 percent, even as giving to the church has made an upswing. When home missions are subtracted from benevolences, we find that only about 5.6 percent is left to operate foreign missions. Thus, in 2000, nearly 97 percent of the entire income of all Christian organizations was spent on, and primarily benefited, other Christians at home or abroad: $261 billion spent on ministering to Christians, $7.8 billion on already-evangelized non-Christians, and $0.81 billion on unevangelized non-Christians. It is no wonder that “one of the reasons churches in North America have trouble guiding people about money is that the church’s economy is built on consumerism. If churches see themselves as suppliers of religious goods and services and their congregants as consumers, then offerings are ‘payment.’ ” Meanwhile, many churches say they don’t have enough money to support missionaries.
10. In the 20th century, resources and influence have shifted from churches to para-church organizations.
“Before the year 1900, over 90 percent of Christian giving was channeled through the churches and denominations.” But the 20th century has seen the rise of some 40,000 para-church organizations with finances independent of churches. Christian giving to Christian causes independent of churches and denominations rose from 36 percent in 1980 to 60 percent in 1995. “One major example and cause of this that springs to mind is Christian broadcasting,” which by 1977 accounted for $500 million in the United States alone. On average, only about a third of Christian giving goes to denominations and local churches. The rise of para-church organizations may partially explain why the practice of tithing is more and more uncommon among Americans.
11. In the 21st century, resources and influence may revert from para-church organizations to local churches.
The Maclellan Foundation (Chattanooga, Tenn.) has observed an emerging change in thinking among churches and ministries about who is best suited to send missionaries, though not yet an actual shift in resources or influence per se. “More recently there has arisen a strong voice promoting one model as the correct one—for the local church to be the only biblical structure.” While in the last several decades churches have relied on ministries to train and place missionaries in the field, churches are increasingly looking to do this themselves due to concern about high attrition rates among missionaries, questions about the para-church’s theological basis for existence, and concerns about the para-church’s high overhead costs. “There has been a reaction to the historical fact that all too often the missions agencies were not only perceived to be the sending structure, but also, in practice, had become the only sending structure with the local church ignored or spurned.” Once this trend gains momentum, this could result in a shift of financing and staffing away from ministries if they fail to articulate the value they bring to the body of Christ (e.g., oversight capacity, foreign contacts, cultural familiarity). Para-churches should respond to this trend by viewing themselves as providers of knowledge, not so much as providers of personnel, and seek to work alongside local churches in the missions endeavor. While in the past, the para-church was primarily focused on evangelism through sending Western missionaries, today the successful ministries are shifting from sending agencies to resource ministries.
12. Christians are increasingly aware of the biblical mandate on generosity.
While pastors seldom discuss money, much less giving, with their congregations, Christians are being awakened to the Bible’s rich teaching on generosity. A number of organizations have been formed in the last several years promoting smarter money management and greater generosity among Christians, including Crown Financial Ministries, The Gathering, Generous Giving and Christian Financial Planners Network. These and others groups like the Christian Stewardship Association have gained momentum in the frequency, attendance and quality of their conferences, programs and publications. Crown’s cofounder, Larry Burkett (1939-2003), was influential in teaching Christians about wise money management since leaving the business world in the 1970s. “Larry was a prolific writer, authoring more than 70 books including several best sellers. Larry’s daily radio program was carried on more than 1,000 stations in the United States. ... His greatest desire was to see Crown Financial Ministries fulfill its God-given vision of teaching 30 million people in America and 300 million around the world to handle money God’s way.” Crown’s most recognized vehicle is a very well-attested small group Biblical Financial Study designed for use at the local church level. Among affluent donors, the National Christian Foundation and its national network of local Christian community foundations have popularized the use of donor-advised funds as a means to give easily, efficiently and effectively to Christian causes. In churches, several high-profile pastors preach regularly on Christian generosity, their influence extending well beyond their own pulpits (e.g., Andy Stanley, David Jeremiah, John Piper, Brian Kluth, Rick Warren). There are examples of pastors and theologians openly turning from their longstanding silence on money and possessions (e.g., R.C. Sproul, Bob Russell). Author and pastor Randy Alcorn’s small book, The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving (Multnomah, 2001), remains on the Christian best-seller list four years later. Several initiatives to raise stewardship awareness are at work in various U.S. denominations.
13. Faith and generosity are linked.
Generally speaking, evangelicals have a greater reverence for Scripture’s teachings and a greater sense of urgency about Jesus’ Great Commission than do their mainline counterparts. Among U.S. evangelicals, almost 90 cents of every donated dollar goes to their churches. The proportion drops, however, as people’s spiritual intensity and commitment to Christ decline.American evangelicals gave a mean of $3,601 per capita to nonprofit organizations in 2001, which is high when compared to other demographic groups. From 1968 to 2000, members of U.S. evangelical Protestant denominations gave larger dollar amounts and larger portions of income to their churches than did members of mainline Protestant denominations.26 In 2001, American evangelicals gave four times as much, per person, to churches as did all other church donors in 2001. Eighty-eight percent of evangelicals and 73 percent of all Protestants donated to churches.
14. Growing churches are missions-focused.
After visiting growing churches for five weeks, Moravian minister Steve Nicholas wrote, “Growing churches are ... mission minded. They make a special effort to serve those in other countries and other cultures. Their members take vacation time to go on trips to Jamaica, Honduras, and Africa. They go to repair churches and teach Vacation Bible Schools. They ... have personal connections with missionaries. Missionaries are supported with money, prayer, and even visits with them on the mission field. It is these connections outside themselves, which helps to stretch growing churches and keeps them from being selfish. ... They are generous and outwardly focused.” Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church in California, says that church health, not church size, ought to be a pastor’s focus. Yet health and growth are linked. “If [churches] are healthy, growth will naturally happen.” When asked how one can tell if his church is healthy, Warren’s response was, “The percentage of members being mobilized for ministry and missions is a more reliable indicator of [church] health than how many people attend services.” In Warren’s mind, church growth and missions go hand in hand. “As long as there is one person in the world who does not know Christ, the church has a mandate to keep growing. Growth is not optional; it is commanded by Jesus. We should not seek church growth for our own benefit, but because God wants people to be saved.”
15. Seminaries are not teaching pastors the basic principles of financial stewardship.
Only 2 to 4 percent of U.S. seminaries and only 1 to 2 percent of Christian colleges and universities teach biblical financial principles at all, and that the theology of giving is rarely a significant part of even those curricula. Eighty-five percent of pastors are untrained in the theology of stewardship and have no books in their libraries on Christian stewardship, money or giving. Traditionally, seminary curriculums have been more focused on doctrinal preparation than on the “practical” aspects of running a church. The subject of stewardship has generally not been considered an academic topic and is seen as peripheral to a theological education.
16. Pastors are largely silent on the topic of money, possessions and giving.
Generous Giving has encountered several explanations for this trend: (1) the fear that members of the church will misconstrue the pastor’s motives for talking about giving; (2) the high-profile abuse by some pastors and teachers in the church today when teaching on money and giving, i.e., prosperity theology; (3) the lack of seminary training on a biblical theology of money and possessions; (4) the personal financial struggles of many pastors who feel hypocritical in addressing the topic when their own financial house is in disarray.
17. Ministry leaders are not trained in biblical stewardship principles.
Between 75 and 90 percent of Christian leaders and professional staff of Christian ministries say that they have never been professionally or biblically equipped to raise funds for ministry.
18. An increasing number of churches have stewardship pastors on staff.
Many churches have responded to the renewed interest in biblical teachings on finances by hiring “stewardship pastors.” These ministers oversee financial education programs at their churches and offer counsel in areas such as debt elimination and tax and estate planning. Stewardship pastors also coordinate seminars, small groups and other opportunities to study biblical financial principles, as well as teaching and providing personal advice. In our current climate of affluence, those who can offer insight into the relationship between faith and money play an important role. Examples include the Rev. Jerry Schriver at Perimeter Church in Duluth, Ga., which has about 4,000 members. Also, the Episcopal Network for Stewardship, based in Wichita, Kans., has been building up a network of dedicated stewardship ministers to serve congregations.
19. Tithing as a practice continues to decline.
“The proportion of households that tithe their income to their church—that is, give at least ten percent of their income to that ministry—has dropped by 62% in the past year, from 8% in 2001 to just 3% of adults during 2002. Born again adults, who represent 38% of the nation’s population, also sustained a decline in generosity during the past couple of years. In 2000, 12% of all born again adults tithed. The percentage rose to 14% in 2001, but dropped to only 6% in 2002. The Barna study discovered that several people groups are more likely to tithe than are others. Groups with the highest proportion of tithers were people 55 or older, college graduates, middle-income individuals, Republicans, conservatives, residents of the South, evangelicals, Protestants, and those who attend mainline Protestant churches. The group that had the highest proportion of households tithing was evangelicals. While that group represents just 6% of the public, nearly 9% of the group tithed in 2002 roughly three times the national average.” Reasons for this decline include concern about financial security, fear about terrorism, failure of parents to pass along this practice to their children, the Catholic church’s pedophilia scandal, the rise of para-church ministries and the rapid growth of Hispanics, very few of whom give generously to their churches.
20. Churches and families are increasingly comfortable with technology.
“In AD 2000, individual Christians owned and operated some 332 million personal computers, including laptops, notebooks, palmtops, and personal digital assistants. ... The latest mega-activity to be added to types of evangelism comes from the enormous expansion of electronic mail and online network activity, particularly over the Internet with its 277 million users in AD 2000 (198 million being Christians). ... The influence of Christians through chat groups, bulletin boards, and through personal and corporate e-mail increases exponentially year by year. ... Christian e-mailers and net-workers thus originate 2 billion evangelism-hours a year.” “The church has an opportunity to embrace technology for global missions and expedite the command to go forth and make disciples of all men.”
21. Knowledge of kingdom opportunities is becoming widespread.
Globalization has provided the means for faster communication between churches, foundations and individuals. The Internet has allowed knowledge of kingdom opportunities to spread quickly between nations and continents. Globalization has compressed time and space so that “we feel somehow closer to those people on the other side of the world.” This is a challenge to the American church to be more missions-minded than ever before, for with increased knowledge comes increased responsibility. “We are members of a universal church which transcends national boundaries and calls us to live in solidarity and justice with the peoples of the world.”
