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January 14, 2010

Stetzer: Churches Lag in Economic Recovery

New LifeWay research says churches ''still waiting for recovery."

 by Matt Branaugh


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Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research in Nashville, wrote a post today highlighting new research regarding continued economic pressures on U.S. churches. LifeWay gathered the research in November through phone surveys with 1,002 church pastors.

The overarching message: Churches are still waiting for a recovery.

That message is consistent with predictions Stetzer gave to Your Church back in May, when we hosted a roundtable discussion on our 2009 Church Budget Priorities research:

"Effects of unemployment tend to lag a bit for churches that emphasize tithing, but as the unemployment rate continues to increase, more congregations will get hit financially. Churches need to be ready for this impact," Stetzer said.

Fast-forward to the new LifeWay research released today and covered by USA Today and the Christian Post, among others:

• more than a quarter of churches surveyed raised less money than in 2008.

• more than half said the poor economy was hurting their church.

• 70 percent reported increased requests from people outside their congregation for assistance.

• 3 percent were considering closing down.

In USA Today's article, reporter Cathy Lynn Grossman quotes Stetzer:

"'Churches have not yet entered the recovery,' says LifeWay director Ed Stetzer. 'Historically, they tend to recover financially when unemployment decreases, usually after the economy as a whole' recovers."

LifeWay's research is the second this week to assess the health of church finances at the close of 2009. On Monday, the Barna Group issued the first of a three-part series on churches and finances, using information gleaned from a fourth-quarter survey of 1,114 Protestant pastors. Among Barna's findings:

• 57 percent of pastors said the economy has negatively impacted their church over the last year;

• 8 percent of leaders said the effect was "very negative";

• About one-third of leaders (35 percent) described their churches as unaffected by the economy;

• 9 percent described the last year as financially positive.

Anecdotally, a YourChurch.net poll in January showed 48 percent of participants entered 2010 with weaker finances because a tough 2009 took its toll.

Matt Branaugh is editor of Your Church magazine.

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Posted by Matt Branaugh on January 14, 2010 9:11 AM

Related Tags: Budget, budgets, church budgets, finance, fundraising, generosity, giving, Tithing, unemployment

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