As one Indianapolis church began seeking pledges to the annual stewardship campaign last week, church leaders offered an unusual assurance to members: Lose your job during the course of the year and the church would refund the contributions you’ve already made. That’s right — any cash you give up until the time you lose your job would come back to you if you get the ax. Patrick’s 2 cents – So is this giving or unemployment insurance for church members? Does this cultivate faith in the giver? I really don’t like this. Thanks to Do More Ministry blog for this tip.
Christianity Today – A short but spot on articlefrom author Philip Yancy - During one of the most volatile periods, a week in which global stock markets declined by $7 trillion, I received a call from an editor at Time. ‘”You wrote a book on prayer, right?” he said. “Tell me, how should a person pray during a crisis like this?” In the course of the conversation, we came up with a three-stage approach to prayer during a financial catastrophe.
The National Association of Church Business Administration recently surveyed over 800 churches to determine how they are fairing in the current economic recession. Some of the survey highlights:
*32 percent said their church was definitely having economy-related financial difficulties, up from 14 percent in August 08 survey
*63 percent said their church saw giving stay the same or climb in 2008 over the previous year.
*Only 24 percent had curtailed mission activities because of the economy. But that’s up from 10 percent in the August 08 survey.
*47 percent said their church had frozen or reduced staff benefits, up from 18 percent in August 08.
*20 percent said they had staff layoffs, and 26 percent reported postponing a major capital project.
WSJ Online – During this holiday season of hard times, not even houses of God have been spared. Some lenders believe more churches than ever have fallen behind on loans or defaulted this year. Some churches, and at least one company that specialized in church lending, have filed for bankruptcy. Church giving is down as much as 15% in some places, pastors and lenders report. “We are seeing more stress in churches than we have in modern history,” says Mark G. Holbrook, president and chief executive of the Evangelical Christian Credit Union of Brea, Calif., which specializes in lending to churches. The credit union has moved to foreclose on seven of its 2,000 member churches this year, and Mr. Holbrook says he expects to take similar action against two more next year. Before now, it had foreclosed on only two churches in its 45-year history. Patrick’s 2 cents – not surprising. Churches that have taken on too much debt to build or buy buildings look great during good economic times and rising real estate values. However, times change.
Reuters – With sport-utility vehicles at the altar and auto workers in the pews, one of Detroit’s largest churches on Sunday offered up prayers for Congress to bail out the struggling auto industry. “We have never seen as midnight an hour as we face this week,” the Rev. Charles Ellis told several thousand congregants at a rousing service at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple. “This week, lives are hanging above an abyss of uncertainty as both houses of Congress decide whether to extend a helping hand.” Patrick’s 2 cents – SUVs at the altar? Give me a break.
Christian Post – Fascinating Barna study on what’s happened to church giving over the last 3 months. My quick summary:
1) one out of every five households (20 percent) has decreased their giving to churches or other religious centers
2) Among those who reduced their donations to churches, 19 percent dropped their giving by as much as 20 percent; five percent decreased their funding by 21 to 49 percent; 17 percent reduced their gift by half, and 11 percent cut their support by more than half.
3) A surprisingly large proportion, 22 percent, stopped their offering to churches altogether.
4) Upscale households were most likely to reduce their giving.
5) Barna projects $3 – $5 billion less for churches in 4th quarter.
6) 35 percent of respondents said their church had offered a special talk about the financial hardship and ways to respond to it.
CNN iReport – The Church at Pinnacle Hills and First Baptist Church of Springdale, self-described as “One Church With Two Campuses”, are feeding thousands of economically stressed people in Northwest Arkansas. Patrick’s 2 cents – a little long but I like the behind the scenes look at a big church making a big difference. Strikes at the opportunity the church now has during difficult times to demonstrate generosity…..everyone is seeking to preserve…..we should be seeking to deploy resources for the Kingdom.
Tim Stevens, Executive Pastor of Granger Community Church, wrote a straightforward, yet creative, letter to the church’s members on the impact of the economic crisis on church giving. Refreshing and unapologetic. In fact, I ate dinner with a pastor tonight that did basically the same thing from the pulpit a couple of Sundays ago. Now is not the time to act in fear……rather we need to lead in faith.
