April 22, 1999 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Many churches can barely keep their doors open, due to flat or declining donations, says Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine (May).
Contributing to the problem are shrinking membership lists — the Methodist church alone has lost 1.6 million members since the 1970s — and some 25 years’ worth of declining offerings to the weekly collection plate.
Meanwhile, the article says, church budgets have been strained by rising costs, such as salaries for new employees who provide services such as day care or adult-education programs. Costs of building maintenance have also increased, partly because many churches have delayed needed repairs for years. Because of such expenses, many churches have less money available for missionary work and other efforts to help the needy.
But despite their budget problems, churches and seminaries rarely focus sermons, classes, and other modes of spiritual instruction on charitable giving, the magazine says. Many pastors and other church leaders still shy away from such topics as tithing, often because they think it is inappropriate to suggest a particular level of giving.
A few churches and other organizations are trying to turn that situation around. Some have begun to offer biblically based classes on budgeting in hopes that church members will step up their giving after getting their own financial houses in order.
Others are trying to make it easier for churchgoers to give by encouraging them to make regular gifts through automatic bank transfers. Still others are promoting bequests and other planned gifts that offer tax breaks and other financial benefits to churchgoers.
But despite such efforts, many churches have not yet seen significant increases in giving, Brian Kluth, an ordained minister and president of the Christian Stewardship Association, told the magazine. “The church,” he said, “has been silent for so long that people don’t understand the responsibilities that undergird a generous lifestyle.”
The article is expected to be available on the magazine’s World-Wide Web site this week. The site is at: http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine.
