Finances and the black church

Christian Century, Dec 23, 1998

A groundbreaking study of U.S. black churches has found that many are suffering from financial challenges and that congregations in denominations that emphasize tithing tend to have some of the most generous donors. Walter Collier, lead researcher for the study by the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, said congregants' concern about church management of finances may prove to be a "wake-up call" for pastors. "While they [congregants] go to church on Sunday ... for the purposes of being spiritually comforted and satisfied, they are equally concerned about how their churches manage money," he said.

The two-year study found that 54 percent of church members reported that their church was having serious financial problems. In Collier's view, the "worrisome finding," based in most cases on members' knowledge of regular church financial reports, does not bode well for churches that might be called on to help communities affected by changes in welfare legislation and reduced government funding of social services. "There's a really important need for pastors to review their stewardship practices and also think of ... ways to generate funds," he said.

The report results are based on surveys of 3,637 members of 141 churches across the country. They included urban, suburban and rural congregations. Pastors of each of the congregations also were interviewed to gain information such as the size and budgets of the churches. The study was conducted by the institute of Church Administration and Management, the church management training and research arm of the ITC, and funded by the Lilly Endowment, an Indianapolis foundation that has long supported black church initiatives.

A briefing paper on the study points out that church financial accountability recently has become a sensitive issue. "With frequent headlines about less than honest church leaders, members of congregations are demanding greater accountability from their pastors, trustees or finance committee persons about how church money is spent," the paper stated. When asked about the management of their church's finances, 59 percent of members said they were being handled properly; 21 percent said they felt somewhat comfortable with how church funds were being handled; 5 percent were not satisfied with funds management; and the remaining 15 percent offered no opinion.

Among the churches with the most generous contributions to the offering plate were those affiliated with the Church of God in Christ, other Pentecostal denominations and some Baptist denominations. "They come from the churches that put a greater emphasis on tithing," said Collier. "As a result, ... they give more consistently as opposed to those churches that don't emphasize tithing."

The survey also found that black churchgoers are committed to giving to their churches. "African-Americans tend to give primarily in obedience to the covenant ... with God to tithe and to do whatever's necessary to keep the church going so that it can carry out its mission," said Collier, a social scientist and marketing researcher based in Alexandria, Virginia. Members with household incomes between $10,000 and $60,000 were found to tithe and give offerings more than people in other income groups.

In a related finding, the researchers discovered that churches generate more money when they use pledge cards to determine worshipers' intentions for annual donations. "It seems to have an effect of binding the individual, kind of getting the individual to commit," said Collier. "Once the individual writes this down, it kind of holds him or her to it."

Although the researchers found that many churches do not keep sufficient records on the backgrounds of their members, they did learn some pertinent facts: the median annual income of the churches surveyed was $200,000; the average age of the congregations surveyed was 75 years; the median number of registered members was 450; the median number of regular attendees was 250; and about half the congregants were between the ages of 30 and 65.

The survey showed some displeasure with the maintenance of church buildings. Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed thought their building and facilities were in good shape, but 26 only partly agreed and 5 percent did not agree. "The churches, in trying to stay afloat, have to prioritize where they're going to put money this week and sometimes the physical infrastructure suffers," Collier noted.

Despite the concerns about financial matters and infrastructure, the researchers found a great deal of satisfaction with other aspects of church life--including sermons, biblical instruction and the quality of the choirs. Commented Collier: "Their spiritual needs are satisfied, their need for fellowship with other people is satisfied and, given the racial climate in the country, outside of a person's individual household or home, the church is one place where you can go to and you can feel comfortable."

But spiritual comfort notwithstanding, the study also indicates that there is work to be done in the training of church leaders. "Certainly what it shows us is that we need to be doing more in terms of training church leaders, and we need to be doing more in terms of training seminarians so that when they come out, not only are they well [prepared] in terms of scripture and church history and hermeneutics but also how to run an organization efficiently," Collier said.