Charitable giving rose 5.9 percent overall from 2016 to 2017, according to the Evangelical Council for Financial Responsibility.
For churches, giving rose 7.4 percent in that span, ECFA said in its State of Giving 2018 report.
ECFA said it is the strongest rise in cash, checks and electronic contributions it has tracked in three years.
“That represents more than $13 billion in this kind of charitable giving,” Warren Bird, ECFA’s vice president of research and equipping, said in a video accompanying the online release of the report.
Broken down by categories, relief and development organizations saw a 12.7 percent increase while giving to K-12 schools and evangelism increased 11.8 percent each, ECFA said.
Community development groups saw a 9.6 percent increase in giving, while domestic missions giving rose 8.8 percent.
The findings came from analyzing financial documents from nearly 2,000 ECFA member organizations, Bird said.
Nurturing young children, teens
Baptist Temple in San Antonio recently opened a facility to house student interns dedicated to helping local children and teens, a regional ministry of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship announced.
“A strong focus of the ministry will be working with 9- to 14-year-olds in an effort to help them make good choices that will help them become healthy, productive adults,” Pastor Jorge Zayasbazan said in an e-mail report from Fellowship Southwest.
The plan became a reality on Dec. 9 when the Olaya Long Mission House was officially opened. Its occupants are Baptist University of the Américas interns.
Zayasbazan said the home and ministry also will benefit the interns by providing them an opportunity to experience practical ministry in addition to their classroom learning at BUA.
Ministry to the military
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina will offer a webinar for individuals and congregations interested in helping military members and their families.
“Ministering to the Military and Veteran Population” will be offered at 11 a.m. Eastern on Jan. 15.
A retired military chaplain will lead the webinar, which will cover “the military culture, the impact of wars, and how the church can minister to the military and veteran population,” according to the CBFNC web site.
Registration is available online.