Majority of Protestant pastors blame poor economy for negative impact on offerings: study

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, October 17, 2024

A majority of Protestant pastors are blaming a poor economy for their struggling bottom lines after experiencing double-digit declines to zero improvement in financial offerings from churchgoers over the last year, data from a new study released by Lifeway Research show — but the sentiment is divided along political lines. 

“National trends of a favorable stock market along with unfavorable inflation and interest can influence a local congregation’s finances, but so do more local factors that contribute to economic problems or prosperity in the church’s community,” Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a statement on the study. “In general, pastors have turned a little more negative in describing economic forces impacting their church this year.”

The study, which is based on a phone survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors conducted Aug. 8–Sept. 3, included participants who described themselves as senior pastor, minister or priest.

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Pastors, in general, reported an average increase in giving at their churches of 0.15%. However, a deeper look at the findings shows that some 43% of pastors saw no change in the offerings compared to 2023. Another 4% said they saw a decline of 25% or more in offerings, while 12% reported declines of 10% to 24%. An additional 5% of pastors in the study said they saw giving at their churches fall by 9% or less. Some 66% of U.S. Protestant pastors say the economy is very much or somewhat negatively impacting their church.

While about 10% of pastors in the study said they weren’t sure how the economy affected their offerings, some 12% said they saw an increase of up to 9%. Another 10% saw increases in giving ranging from 10% to 24%, and 4% of respondents in the study reported growth in their offerings of 25% or more.

Researchers also found that 79% of Republican pastors, and those planning to vote for former President Donald Trump, 83%, were most likely to say the economy is negatively impacting their church. Democratic pastors, on the other hand, were more likely to report that the economy is having a positive impact, 21%, or no impact, 34%, on their offerings.

On average, pastors supporting Harris said they saw a 4.27% growth in giving this year, while pastors supporting Trump say they saw a 2.38% decline.

“Overall, pastors’ perceptions of the economy’s impact on their churches are statistically related to the pastor’s own politics. Since both politics and economics are external factors to a local church, it is not surprising that the influences become combined for some,” McConnell said. “More surprising is that pastors report actual offerings which fit these differences in political leanings.”