Money Trumps the Bible

By Deborah Bruce

I just reviewed 2011 Google Analytics results for this blog, and guess what—more readers view posts about money than those about the Bible!

Which posts have been most popular? In the past year, we’ve posted on everything from opinions about guns to embracing your inner failure; from views of God to views of women clergy. Which were most popular? Posts about financial giving. Three of the four most frequently viewed posts—including the single most viewed one—deal with the offering plate: 

1. Where does the money come from?
2. What is the Bible?  
3. Worshiper values make a difference for mainline Protestants
4. Secrets to a full collection plate, part 2  

1. And posts about the Bible? That one’s in second place!

What search terms bring people to our blog? Here are the top four:

1. Sermon length (and similar terms)  
2. Interfaith activities
3. Spiritual resolutions
4. Clergy support groups

1. What have we learned? We’re data junkies, so it shouldn’t be surprising that we find Google Analytics fascinating. But these results also give us a road map for the future. Given our readers’ clear interests, we’ll continue to post about the finances of U.S. congregations. But we won’t neglect the Bible.

What are your interests? If there’s something specific you’re interested in, let us know. Send your suggestions to uscongregations@pcusa.org. Also remember that we post about a range of other findings on our website.

And if you haven’t already read our best-sellers, click on those links above and catch up with our other readers.