Beyond the Ordinary

Congregational Involvement and Individual Giving Go Hand in Hand

By Deborah Bruce

Worshipers who are more involved in their congregations give more financial support to their church than do those who are less involved.  This trend holds true for Catholics, for mainline Protestants, and for conservative Protestants.  Greater giving is fueled by many different types of congregational involvement.  Let’s take a look.

Giving levels.  Two-thirds of conservative Protestants say they give 5% or more of net income to their congregation.  In contrast, only one-third of Catholic worshipers and half of mainline Protestants give at that level.

Involvement influences giving.  Compared to less-involved worshipers, more of the involved worshipers give at least 5% of income to their congregation.  Involved worshipers:

• Attend worship services weekly or more often.
• Are members of the congregation or in the process of joining the church.
• Participate in one of the church’s small groups.
• Hold a leadership role in the church.
• Often participate in congregational decision making.
• Participate in the community service or evangelism work of the congregation.

   
 Worshipers who are involved in multiple ways give at the highest levels.  Among worshipers who are virtually uninvolved in their congregation (attend less than weekly, not a member, not involved in small groups, not holding a leadership role, not involved in decision making, not involved in service work), only about one in ten give at least 5% of income to their church.  In contrast, at least six in ten of worshipers who are involved in all six ways contribute 5% of income or more to their congregation.

  
Implications.  The good news is that most worshipers are actively involved congregational life.  In fact, more than half are involved in at least three of these six ways.  Increasing the ways in which worshipers are connecting to the church pays off for your congregation’s financial bottom line.

Resources:

The Other 80 Percent: Turning Your Church’s Spectators into Active Participants

How to Shrink Your Church’s Inactive Member List

 

Frontiers of Religion Research

By Deborah Bruce

I recently attended a conference on the sociology of religion.   Here are highlights from two of the many fascinating presentations:

Age—How Old Do You Feel?

Petra-Angela Ahrens explored the difference between actual age—how old the calendar says you are—and subjective age—how old you feel.  She found that the two don’t usually coincide.  On average, people feel five years younger than they actually are.  But interestingly, religion makes a difference.  Religious people feel six years younger than they are, on average, and non-religious people feel four years younger than they are.  Furthermore, Ahrens found that subjective age is a better predictor of satisfaction with life than actual age.  Her research provides another confirmation that religion plays a powerful role in people’s lives. 

Clergy Burnout—Stress or Lack of Balance?

Leslie Francis and Mandy Robbins discussed a balanced affect model of clergy burnout.  This model suggests that burnout occurs when the negatives of ministry outweigh the positives.  While many pastors experience substantial stress and perhaps personal exhaustion in pastoral ministry, those negatives do not lead to burnout if there are sufficient positive outcomes to balance the negatives.  High satisfaction with ministry and a personal sense of accomplishment can offset the stress that pastors experience. 

Two avenues for preventing burnout emerge from this model:  (1) decrease the stress and exhaustion that pastors experience, and (2) increase their sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. 

It may be a challenge to think about your satisfaction in ministry separate from the stress that your call brings.  But doing so may help you discover new ways to find and maintain a sense of balance in your life.

Related resources:

Approach to Clergy Wellness

Clergy Self-care

Stress Management

 

Worshipers’ Values Make a Difference in Mainline Protestant Giving

By Cynthia Woolever

Despite decades of membership decline, mainline Protestant denominations remain a major presence in the American religious landscape. Three mainline denominations (United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)) rank in the top ten largest denominations.  Mainline denominations account for one-fourth of the top twenty-five denominations. In addition to the three named above, other large groups include the American Baptist Churches, the Episcopal Church, and the United Church of Christ. 

While several of these denominations have experienced the highest rates of membership loss in recent years compared to other groups, the link between this trend and giving patterns is less clear. Worshipers who give 10% or more of income to their congregation make the greatest impact on the financial health of the local church. The proportion of tithers in the average mainline Protestant church (18%) falls far below the average for conservative Protestant churches (43%) but above that in the typical Catholic parish (11%). 

The dynamics of internal church life vary among the three faith groups as well. Therefore, the characteristics of high-percentage-tithing mainline churches reveal different patterns related to giving.   

The Accelerators in High-Percentage-Tithing Mainline Protestant Churches

More weekly attendees. In mainline Protestant churches where a larger proportion of worshipers attend weekly or more often, the percentage of tithers is higher. This pattern is consistent across all three faith groups. Which comes first—participation or giving? We don’t know. But those who participate more also tend to give more. Those who give more to the church, also tend to participate more.

More male attendees. Women are more likely to attend services alone, whether they are married or single. However, men more often come to services with their family. Congregations with higher percentages of worshiping families (and thus, more male attendees) have higher percentages of tithers.  

Smaller churches. Larger churches face the “free rider” challenge—worshipers who enjoy the services or activities of the church but contribute little or nothing. The larger the mainline Protestant congregation, the bigger this problem can be. Smaller churches experience an advantage in the tithing pattern. Smaller churches typically have a greater percentage of tithing worshipers.

More theologically conservative worshipers. Across the three faith groups, theology makes a difference. In congregations where many worshipers describe themselves as theologically conservative, a higher percentage of worshipers report giving at the tithing level. It seems that beliefs are actually related to worshiper behavior!

Worshipers value the church’s focus on community care and social justice. Mainline Protestant worshipers, as a whole, value congregations that care about the local community. When churches make a commitment to their neighbors’ welfare and advocate for justice locally, their members’ finance those efforts through church giving. In congregations where many worshipers say they value this commitment by the church, a higher percentage of worshipers tithe.

Worshipers value Bible study or prayer groups. Some mainline Protestant congregations carry out strategic efforts to enhance the prayer life of their worshipers and encourage their Bible reading and study. When these programs and efforts are successful and worshipers report this as something they value in their congregation, the church also tends to have a higher percentage of tithers. Bible study and prayer reinforce the teachings about faithful giving.

A few local church features—more weekly attendees and worshipers who are theologically conservative—fuel high-percentage giving in congregations in almost any circumstance. But how worshipers’ values are related to giving patterns is closely tied to the traditions and practices of a congregation’s faith group identity. Catholic worshipers are motivated to give by different values than Protestant worshipers. Values make a difference!   

Worshipers’ Values Make a Difference in Conservative Protestant Giving

By Cynthia Woolever

The second largest group of U.S. churches, after Catholic parishes, consists of conservative Protestant congregations. Five of the top 10 largest denominations fit in the conservative Protestant category—Southern Baptist Convention (16 million adherents in more than 40,000 churches), Church of God in Christ (5.5 million adherents in more than 15,000 churches), National Baptist Convention, U.S.A. (5 million adherents in 9,000 churches), National Baptist Convention of America (3.5 million adherents in 2,500 churches), and Assemblies of God (2.9 million adherents in 12,000 churches).  Many of these denominations, and individual congregations within those denominations, continue to grow numerically. To what extent do conservative Protestant worshipers invest in their local church?

An earlier post noted that the percentage of worshipers giving 10% or more of their income to the local church clearly distinguishes one church from another.  We also reviewed our research about factors related to Catholic per-worshiper giving.

In the typical conservative Protestant church, more than four in ten worshipers (43%) report that they give 10% or more of their net income regularly to their local church. The percentage of conservative Protestant tithers (those who give at the 10% level) is significantly higher than the proportion of tithers in mainline Protestant churches (18%) or Catholic parishes (11%).

We used a statistical method—regression analysis—to look at the relative impact of multiple dynamics on church giving. We identified the relative importance or relative strength of individual factors—like weekly worship attendance—while filtering out the impact of other worshiper and organizational dynamics.

We found that some factors were “accelerators”—churches with these characteristics had higher percentages of tithers. While our focus is on values, three other features of conservative Protestant churches remain important even when we control for worshipers’ values. 

The Accelerators in High-Percentage-Tithing Conservative Protestant Churches

More weekly attendees. In conservative Protestant churches where a larger proportion of worshipers attend weekly or more often, the percentage of tithers is also higher. Previous research shows that individuals who participate more in church services and activities, also tend to be a regular financial contributors. At the congregational level, increasing the engagement level of worshipers also increases the revenue generated by individual donations. Keep in mind that even when other seemingly important church factors are taken into account, this association remains.

More new attendees. In conservative Protestant churches, a new factor emerges as relevant for high-percentage giving. In churches with lots of people attending for one year or less, there is also a higher percentage of tithers overall. Perhaps in congregations where new and exciting things are happening, more new people are attracted to those positive changes. These new worshipers are the most enthusiastic about where the congregation is headed. Many conservative Protestant churches now emphasize tithing as one of the criteria for membership, which sets a high bar for commitment.  

More male attendees. Surprisingly, in congregations where the percentage of male attendees is closer to the percentage of female attendees, the percentage of tithers rises. Male worshipers tend to come with their family rather than alone. When the whole household participates, a household decision to tithe is more of a possibility.  

More conservative worshipers. More churches where more worshipers describe themselves as conservative on theological issues are high-percentage-tithing congregations. A belief in the biblical mandate to tithe is one component of a more conservative theological tradition.

Worshipers value the church’s focus on reaching the unchurched.  When many worshipers share an outward focus—valuing the congregation’s efforts to reach those who do not currently attend church—the percentage of tithers in the church also climbs.

Worshipers value the church’s prayer ministry. In churches where structures and programs are in place to encourage prayer, the percentage of tithers tends to be higher. Learning to pray and praying as a spiritual practice enhance the spiritual life of the worshiper and congregation. 

Worshipers value the church’s ministry with children and youth. Some churches put a lot of energy into their programs and outreach with children and youth. When churches make that a priority, worshipers are more willing to fund these efforts to grow tomorrow’s church leaders.

Many other variables are linked to high-percentage giving in conservative Protestant churches. Yet when all those factors are taken into account, what worshipers value provides significant clues. Worshipers in conservative Protestant churches exhibit a unique set of values that are linked to tithing and high-percentage giving. 

In a future post, we’ll explore the values of mainline Protestant worshipers. Are mainline Protestant values different from conservative Protestant values? Yes. Does it matter for high-percentage giving? Yes! Stay tuned.