11/2/06

Church goers sharing less of income

While the majority of charitable giving is directed to churches and other religious organizations, giving by churchgoers has dropped slightly, a new study says.

The study, "The State of Church Giving through 2004," is the 16th annual study of congregational giving by Empty Tomb, a Christian research and service organization based in Champaign, Ill.

Giving by a group of 40 Christian denominations, representing 40 million church members, dropped 1.16 percent in the portion of inflation-adjusted income donated.

The churches studied spent an average of 2 cents of each dollar on international missions, the study says, ranging from a high of 9 cents per dollar in the Primitive Methodist Church to a low of 1 cent for the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches.

Had churches given the traditional tithe, or 10 percent of income, giving by congregations would have increased by $164 billion, the study says.

[Philanthropy Journal]

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