Survey Shows Economy Continuing to Impact Churches

Religion Today | Updated: Dec 07, 2012

Survey Shows Economy Continuing to Impact Churches

According to a survey by LifeWay Research, pastors say the economy continues to have a negative impact on their churches despite stabilized giving, Baptist Press reports. The survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors asked respondents, "How is the economy impacting your church?" Sixty-four percent responded "negatively," with 56 percent indicating "somewhat negatively" and 8 percent "very negatively." One-fourth of the pastors said the economy had had no impact on their church, and 9 percent indicated a positive impact. "Pastor views on the economy are similar to many economic outlook surveys," said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research. "We weren't surprised the current perspective of economic impact on churches is predominantly negative." However, while the sluggish economic recovery has translated into flat or reduced giving for many churches, the survey found fewer churches reporting declines in giving and fewer churches failing to meet budget expectations.



Survey Shows Economy Continuing to Impact Churches