Survey shows church attendance down, giving is slightly higher
The Layman Online, from news sources, December 8, 1999
A new survey released by the Barna Research Group of Ventura, Calif., conducted among senior pastors of Protestant churches, shows that in 1999 church attendance declined slightly from the previous years’ level while donations to churches increased slightly and pastoral compensation was unchanged.
In their annual tracking study of Protestant churches, the Barna study found that median adult attendance at church services in 1999 was 90 people, which is slightly below the 1998 average (95 adult attenders). The figure is 10 percent below the 1997 average (100), and 12 percent lower than the 1992 level (102).
Attendance averages were higher among black churches (100) than among white congregations (85), and higher among mainline (100) and Baptist churches (100) than among charismatic (80) and fundamentalist churches (75).
Suburban churches were the largest of all (120) while rural churches were the smallest (70), with urban churches in-between (100). In terms of geographic differences, churches in the South (100) were larger than churches in the Northeast (85) and the West (85), and especially those in the Midwest (80).
In spite of the mass media attention devoted to megachurches (i.e. those attracting 1000 or more adults on a typical weekend), those congregations remain just 1% of the Protestant church landscape.
Operating Budgets Rise
Despite the attendance decline the annual operating budget of churches rose by 5 percent in the past year, to an average of $110,000 per church. The current median is 34 percent higher than it was in 1992, and 59 percent above the 1987 average.
The budget range varied from a low of $80,000 among rural churches to a high of $150,000 among suburban churches and Baptist churches. Other types of congregations with substantially above average budgets included urban churches ($140,000) and churches in the South ($125,000). Churches in the Midwest had relatively small budgets ($90,000) compared to congregations in the other areas of the country.
To place these giving patterns in perspective, the survey indicates that the most generous church attenders are those in urban churches, churches in the South, and Baptist churches. The average weekly donation per adult attender at Baptist churches was $28.85 and at urban churches it was $26.92, both substantially above the national norm of $23.50. The lowest median weekly gifts were found among those attending rural churches ($21.98), residents of the Midwest ($21.63), people going to mainline churches ($20.39), and people associated with African-American churches ($15.38).
Pastoral Compensation
Pastoral compensation packages remained essentially unchanged during this past year. The average increase registered – just $127 – represents less than a 1% raise for pastors. The median value of pastoral compensation packages – defined as salary, housing allowance, auto allowance, and other benefits – was $35,195. That figure is 10 percent higher than it was in 1992.
George Barna, president of the company that conducted the research, noted that to understand the reported statistics they must be placed in their proper context. “Since 1992 Protestant churches have lost 10 percent in average weekly attendance. During that same period, America’s population has increased by almost 9 percent. Some of this attendance decline is attributable to the planting of new churches, which tend to start small and thus brings down the national average, and to the less frequent attendance of church-going adults. The bottom line, however, is that we are attracting fewer people than we used to.
“Even the increased giving to churches is not as encouraging as it seems at first glance. The good news is that during the recent times of a strong economy, people’s giving has risen at more than the cost-of-living. The 34 percent increase in giving since 1992 surpasses the cumulative inflation of more than 20 percent during that same period.
Unfortunately for pastors, the increased giving has not benefited them. Although pastoral compensation has risen by 10 percent increase since 1992, that has not kept pace with the rise in the cost of living during that period. In effect, pastors are earning about 12 percent less today, in real dollars, than they were at the beginning of the decade.”