DALLAS (ABP) — Churches that aren’t cutting their budgets due to the economic downturn are, by and large, taking measures to curb expenses, according to a survey the National Association of Church Business Administration has done of its members.
The organization — the professional society for church administrators of all denominations — released the study Feb. 20. It found that 57 percent of the congregations represented by members surveyed had experienced a slowdown in contributions.
Thirty-two percent of the churches’ administrators said the dip was “not common for our congregation this time of year,” while 25 percent could not say for certain whether the downturn was due to the economy.
Meanwhile, 30 percent of the respondents said their churches were “doing okay” but “not seeing strong growth in financial support.” Twelve percent said their giving was “strong” and continuing to grow, while only 1 percent said their financial support was “very strong.”
Twenty percent of the respondents said their churches had been forced to lay off employees and 26 percent said they had postponed a major capital project. Nearly half — 47 percent — said they had reduced or frozen staff compensation packages.
 Phill Martin (PHOTO/NACBA) |
Phill Martin is NACBA’s deputy chief executive and a veteran Baptist church administrator. He said the 32 percent of members who believed the economy had definitely affected their congregations was much higher than the 14 percent who thought so when they answered a similar survey in August.
“I think we are starting to see more pain felt — although nothing like in the private sector,” Martin, who is also a member of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, said.
Martin noted that it is often more difficult for churches than businesses or secular non-profits to judge whether the economy is responsible for a dip in contributions or if it owes to some other factor, such as church conflict or the a lack of a pastor.
“Our local ABC [TV] affiliate came and asked me to give them the names of five churches in [economic] trouble,” he said. “But I can give you five churches in trouble when the economy’s in good shape.”
He also noted the differences in local economic effects are causing differences between metropolitan areas and regions of the country in how particular churches fare.
“If we look at North Dallas, things are pretty good,” he said Feb. 19, noting he had just come from a meeting with 40 local church administrators and that they simply “had a good dialogue” about the state of the economy. “But [members of] our chapter in Phoenix are really struggling because so many people there have lost their jobs because of downsizing.”
That’s the case in Dalton, Ga., a small city about an hour northwest of Atlanta where floor-covering manufacturers dominate the local economy.
“There have been layoffs in almost all of the major carpet companies located in Dalton,” said Debra Haney, administrator at First Baptist Church of Dalton. “These layoffs have been necessary due to reduced need for floor covering. Of course, this need is directly tied to the declining housing market.”
Haney said the church has cut its 2009 budget by more than 11 percent — across all budget categories and including reductions in working hours for some staff.
Bill Wilson, the church’s pastor, is a member of the Associated Baptist Press board of directors.
The cuts may only be the beginning. The economy shows no obvious signs of a quick recovery, and many economists are predicting a multi-year recession.
Martin pointed to a study by the Christian research organization Empty Tomb, Inc., showing that there has not necessarily been a correlation between nationwide recessions and declines in annual per-capita giving to churches in the last 40 years.
However, Martin noted, between 1968 and 2005, church giving declined in three of the 10 years that showed one month or more of economic contraction. Out of those three years of drops in church giving, two were the last year of recessions that stretched over multiple years.
“What I got out of that is that a lot of times multi-year recessions tend to catch up with the church; they’re not instantly affected,” he said. “And so I think it is a wise caution that churches are displaying.”
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Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.