May 7, 1998 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Gifts to Christian churches in the United States continue to grow, according to a new study. But the churches are collecting less money for “benevolences,” programs that help the needy around the country and abroad.
The 1998 edition of the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, prepared by the National Council of Churches, examines membership and financial data from denominations in the United States and Canada.
Among the 55 American denominations that provided financial information — mostly for the 1996 fiscal year — a total of $24.2-billion was collected. Of that, about $3-billion, or 12 per cent, was earmarked for benevolences. The rest of the gifts were considered to be general donations, which the local congregations traditionally spend on the maintenance of their church and its programs.
Last year’s edition of the yearbook showed that benevolences accounted for more than 17 per cent of the gifts to 55 denominations, which totaled $21.4-billion. The year before, such gifts made up about 21 per cent of the $15.3-billion collected by 47 denominations.
The most recent yearbook says that while the decline in benevolence giving should be “a matter for reflection and concern,” the figures can be misleading. More and more, the book explains, local churches use donations to do their own benevolence work or to support such work in conjunction with other non-profit groups.
The yearbook also identifies trends in church membership. Its editor, the Rev. Eileen W. Lindner, says that changes in the number of members of some of the larg- est Protestant denominations are “flattening out.” That is, she says, churches are growing or shrinking at slower and slower rates.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), for example, has reported annual membership declines of 2.6 per cent, 1.22 per cent, and 0.88 per cent for 1995, 1996, and 1997, respectively. The Southern Baptist Convention grew by 1.4 per cent, 0.32 per cent, and 0.18 per cent annually during those same years.
Of the 80 American denominations that provided updated membership information, the median rate of change in the number of members — meaning half saw faster growth and half saw slower growth or declines — was 1.24 per cent.
Copies of the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches are available for $35, including postage, from the NCC Friendship Press, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 860, New York 10115; (212) 870-2496. Also available from Friendship Press is a CD-ROM version of the yearbook packaged with the text for $45. For more information about the yearbook, see the National Council of Churches’ World-Wide Web site at http://www.ncccusa.org.
