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On Friday, February 27, 2009, the stock market hit its lowest mark in more than a decade. That same weekend, during worship services at Cross Timbers Community Church (Argyle, TX), Pastor Toby Slough made the following announcement:
"If you need money today to feed or house your family, please take money out of the offering plate, rather than putting money in." In response to his bold and generous words, the people of the church gave their biggest offering ever.
The global financial crisis has been devastating for some and felt by nearly everyone. In the midst of the national economic downturn, many headlines predict a crisis for churches and other non-profits. Yet compared to the nation's economic pulse, how are churches really weathering the slump? |
Impact on Larger Churches
In an effort to get an accurate picture of the church's current economic outlook, Leadership Network asked identical questions about the economy's impact in surveys conducted in both 2008 and 2009. A comparison of the responses led to several surprises:
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Most larger churches, despite what some national headlines predict, are cautious but holding steady – and churches that are growing are even doing well financially. In fact, 43% of the churches surveyed in January 2009 reported feeling only minimally affected by the economic slowdown, only 2% fewer churches than said so in June 2008. |
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Most of the churches surveyed in January are also expecting income to increase or remain the same in 2009, and 63% of the responding pastors believe their church will meet its budget for 2009. |
This situation is not the case for all churches, especially ones in certain sections of the country, such as the sand states (CA, NV, AZ, and FL) and the rust belt states (MI, OH, IN), or ones that were already experiencing a decline in attendance.
Whatever level of challenge they face, many churches are also responding to the financial needs that people are facing, often in creative ways such as Cross Timbers Community Church's approach.
Others are helping people learn to manage finances by offering financial classes or seminars, preaching on finances and generosity, conducting annual stewardship drives and making increased volunteer budget/debt counselors available.
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63% of responding pastors believe their church will meet its budget for 2009 (Jan. 2009 survey). |
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| Leadership Network's senior pastor survey is now open -- with the promise that every participant gets a free copy of the results. Lead pastors in churches with attendance of 800 and higher are encouraged to participate here. |
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Vineyard Church (Columbus, OH) has created a task force consisting of Vineyard pastors and business people from the church to help people deal with the challenges of the recession. Their efforts include:
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A series of job networking events designed to connect qualified job candidates with employers and HR professionals; |
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A series of symposiums on subjects such as home foreclosure, accessing unemployment benefits and other public benefits; |
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Provision of free health care at their two health clinics, plus baby clothes, diapers, and formula. |
"The Bible is full of wonderful stories of God using difficult situations to bring glory and honor to himself," says Vineyard pastor Rich Nathan. "It is our hope and prayer that our collective efforts in these challenging times will result in many such stories."
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The full report, How the Economic Slump Is (or Isn't) Hitting Churches: Fresh Research from Leadership Network and Other Studies, by Warren Bird, compares several factors that may affect a church's economic outlook and shares many stories of what various churches are doing in response to the current economy. To read more, download the full report here.
After reading the report, share your comments with us by email (research@leadnet.org) or below (Post a Comment) and watch for a podcast in a couple weeks that will respond to readers’ thoughts and questions.
Pictured on the right: In June, 2008, 74% of surveyed churches expected that income would increase over the next year – but by January 2009 that number had dropped to 53%. |
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