P. King, the Karen Lake Buttrey Director of Lake Institute. “Our
study sheds new light on the rest of the story with a detailed look at
congregations, their funding and how they manage their resources.”
Congregations in the U.S. are widely diverse, not only in
their beliefs and practices, but also in other characteristics. The
NSCEP examines differences in congregations’ size, age, racial
composition, and generational makeup, among other factors, and
demonstrates how those differences help shape congregations’
varying approaches to economic practices.
Much less is known about congregations’ finances than about
those of other types of nonprofits.
“Many people who are active in congregations may be surprised
by how little they know about their own congregation as well as
the broader landscape of religious communities,” King said. “This
report can serve as a guide to the kinds of questions that people
should be asking about their local congregation.”
The NSCEP asked congregations to compare their giving and
participation in fiscal year 2017 to three years earlier.
Key findings include:
• More than half of all congregations report growth in either the
number of regularly participating adults or money received.
• Congregations experiencing the highest percentages of growth
include those located on the West Coast, younger congregations
formed in the past two decades and larger congregations.
• Among religious traditions, Catholic congregations face the greatest
challenges, with over half of all parishes declining in size and revenue
over the past three years. Half of mainline Protestant congregations
declined in size, while only 38% indicated a decline in revenue. Just
over half (51%) of black Protestant congregations reported growth in
both size and revenue. Evangelical congregations reported the highest
percentage of congregations remaining the same in size.
• Although Christian churches make up the vast majority of U.S.
congregations, the NSCEP finds that the houses of worship of other
major religious traditions such as Judaism, Islam and Hinduism,
when taken together, show significant growth in participation and
revenue, indicating growth of America’s religious pluralism.
• On average, U.S. congregations spend almost half of their
annual budget on staff and another quarter on facilities. Individual
congregations’ budgets range from a few thousand dollars to
several million dollars. Twenty percent of congregations are led by
part-time or bi-vocational clergy.
Not all spending goes toward congregations’ internal operations.
“Most congregations support causes and organizations that help
people in their community and around the world. Eighty-four
percent of congregations have participated in some type of social
service or community development program in the last year, from
offering food and clothing to addressing physical or mental health
needs or providing disaster relief,” said Brad R. Fulton, assistant
professor at the Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and
Environmental Affairs and co-principal investigator for the study.
These congregations are helping people through programs
funded by congregation budgets and through direct appeals on
behalf of other organizations.
“On average, congregations allocate 11% of their total budget to
funding missions, service and benevolence efforts,” Fulton said.
“Fifty-seven percent of congregations explicitly collect funds for
other social service or missions agencies beyond their own annual
budget, such as Catholic Charities, Buddhist Global Relief or
Jewish Family Services.”
The full report is available at www.nscep.org.
Church Growth
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P ra ctical Solutions for Growth
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