Is church giving rebounding?

New survey finds fewer congregants skipping the collection plate

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By Shelia M. Poole

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An improving economy is being reflected in the collection plate.

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Members of the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Decatur pass around a collection plate during a Thursday night mass. A nationwide survey showed 43 percent of churches experienced an increase in giving in 2010.

Josh D. Weiss, Special Members of the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Decatur pass around a collection plate during a Thursday night mass. A nationwide survey showed 43 percent of churches experienced an increase in giving in 2010.

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The third annual "State of the Plate" survey of more than 1,500 congregations nationwide showed that 43 percent of churches experienced an increase in giving in 2010, up from 36 percent the previous year. But 39 percent of churches reported a decline.

One of the biggest drops came in the Southeast, including Georgia. Forty-six percent of churches surveyed reported a drop in giving, according to the survey released Wednesday.

"We're in a three-year decline," said Brian Kluth, founder of Colorado-based Maximum Generosity and head of the State of the Plate research. "A large percentage of churches have experienced more difficult financial times and the economy is a big part. We're also seeing a lot of churches have begun doing more financial classes and counseling to help their congregations get their house in order and giving has improved."

It's not just the economy though.

"Materialism has trumped generosity in the last few decades," he said.

The survey was co-sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and Christianity Today International.

At Milford Church of God in Austell, giving dropped about 10 percent when the economy tanked but has since rebounded, according to the Rev. Keith Gunter.

"[The financial] hit was not as drastic as it was with a lot of other places," he said. The church, which has a weekly attendance of roughly 725 people, has organized job fairs to help people who were in danger of losing employment.

"We started hitting that at the very onset," Gunter said. "We didn't want it to cripple us."

He also doesn't discount the power of prayer.

"The only way I can explain it is that God is honoring his people for their giving and sacrifice," he said.

Some churches are getting creative in how congregants can give.

SecureGive, a software company based in the Augusta area, has a kiosk that allows people to use their credit cards or debit cards to donate to church. It also offers online giving. People can decide how much they want to give and even designate a ministry. The service is used in about 350 churches nationwide.

The Rev. Stuart Greene, senior pastor of Sugarloaf United Methodist Church in Duluth, said his church has seen a downturn in giving and "without question it's the economy. We've had a number of our families experience unemployment for significant periods of time."

As a result there, the church has scaled back on some programs along with other belt-tightening. The church also has a place on its website for online giving, which Stuart said has been slow to catch on.

"Maybe it's just in their DNA about what it means to go to church," he said. "They want to physically put a check or money in the collection plate when it's passed around and that's an important part of their worship."