More than half of American pastors surveyed last month said inflation is hitting their churches in the balance sheet, despite “stable” giving patterns.
Lifeway Research, which sponsored the poll, said the 52% of pastors reporting that the economy is having a negative impact on their churches is the first time since 2016 that that response has been above 50%.
The survey reported that smaller congregations — those with under 50 attendees weekly — are most likely to say the economy’s impact is negative.
“Outside economic forces are back to being a negative influence for most churches, according to their pastors,” Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a statement. “As temporary assistance from the CARES Act expires and prices and interest rates rise, churches are noticing the impact on their finances.”
Giving to churches is stable and on par with 2021 giving, roughly 7 in 10 pastors told pollsters. Of that number, 46% say giving “has been about what was budgeted,” and 23% say giving exceeds projections. But 29% of pastors report donations coming in below expectations.
Mr. McConnell said that giving was not the dominant factor in how pastors viewed the impact of the economy on congregations.
“The souring of pastor attitudes toward the economy is more about rising expenses than declining income,” he said. “Declining year-over-year giving is a factor for almost a quarter of churches, but this is a similar rate to what churches have averaged for over a decade.”
There were geographic and racial disparities among the churches reporting economic concerns.
Congregations in the northeastern U.S., at 62%, were the most likely to say the economy had a negative impact. Black pastors, at 36%, were more likely to say offerings were below 2021 levels than White pastors, at 22%.
Lifeway said the Sept. 6-30 telephone poll canvassed 1,000 Protestant pastors, with a 95% confidence that the sampling error doesn’t exceed plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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