jumped from 14% in September 2018 to 26% this year.
• Pastors of the smallest congregations, those with fewer than
50 in attendance, are most likely to say the economy is having
a negative impact (37%) and the least likely to say it’s having a
positive one (17%).
• Though there are conflicting views over the economic climate’s
effect on different churches, around 3 in 4 pastors did report their
offerings in 2019 were at or above that of the previous year.
• More than one-third (37%) said their church’s giving was up in
2019. The same percentage (37%) said it has been the same as 2018.
• However, 21% said their offering totals are below the levels of
giving in 2018.
• Larger churches were more likely to see increased giving
from 2018. Half of churches with 250 or more in attendance (50%)
said offerings are up this year; 42% of pastors of churches with
attendance of 100 to 249 said the same.
• One-third of congregations with 50 to 99 in attendance (34%)
saw an increase in 2019, while only a quarter of churches with fewer
than 50 (25%) saw a similar uptick.
• More than 3 in 5 pastors (64%) said they don’t think the 2018 tax
reform had any effect on their church’s finances.
• More than 1 in 10 pastors (14%) said they saw a negative impact
from the tax reform, while 12% said they saw a positive impact.
Around 1 in 10 (11%) said they weren’t sure.
• When asked in 2018 as the reforms were being implemented,
pastors were slightly more optimistic. Half (49%) said they didn’t
expect any impact, but 26% thought they would see a positive effect
on their church’s finances.
For the full article reporting the findings, visit https://
lifewayresearch.com/2019/12/03/pastors-less-optimistic-about-
economys-impact-on-their-congregation.
Pastors’ Attitudes on
the Economy
Over years of surveying Protestant pastors across the country,
researchers at Nashville-based LifeWay Research have found that
since the 2018 tax reform went into effect, pastors are feeling less
optimistic about the economy’s impact on their congregation.
Here are the highlights of the findings from the report:
• Around 2 in 5 pastors of Protestant churches in the United States
(41%) said the economy is having no impact on their church.
• Nearly a third (30%) said it is having a positive effect on their
congregation while 26% said it is actually having a negative impact.
• Scott McConnell, the executive director of LifeWay Research,
noted that pastors are less optimistic about the outside influence
of the economy on their church than they were two years ago, with
the current 30% who believe in a positive effect down from the 45%
who felt the same way in 2018.
• The percentage of pastors who feel a negative impact from the
economy increased for the first time since 2010. After falling in
every survey from a high of 80% in October 2010, the percentage
26
CHURCH EXECUTIVE | JAN / FEB 2020
Most U.S. congregations saw
increases in participation
or giving
More U.S. congregations saw increases in participation and
giving than experienced declines in 2019, a new study from Lake
Institute on Faith & Giving at the Indiana University Lilly Family
School of Philanthropy at IUPUI found.
Although fewer Americans are claiming a religious affiliation
and the percentage of individuals who are members of a
congregation is declining, these findings only tell part of the
story. The National Study of Congregations’ Economic Practices
focuses on congregations rather than individuals and reveals that
while some congregations are declining in size and revenue, many
continue to grow.
The (NSCEP) reportedly is the largest and most comprehensive,
nationally representative study of U.S. congregations’ finances in more
than a generation. It reveals a detailed picture of the nation’s more than
300,000 congregations and provides new insight into how congregations
receive, manage and spend money. The study was made possible by a
$1.67 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
“There is a widespread perception that when individuals move
away from religious affiliation that congregations across the
board experience a drop in participation and revenue. While many
congregations are experiencing declines, the overall picture is far
more complex than conventional wisdom suggests,” said David