In the US, religious attendance flatlining, but giving remains strong – study
RNS All the available hard evidence – not to mention a look around many houses of worship – shows that religious congregations are declining. As congregants increasingly head for the exits, younger Americans, who say they have no religion, are far less likely than previous generations to join a church. But a new nationally representative study from […]
Sex scandals will not hurt charities as Britons pledge to keep giving – survey
Thomson Reuters Foundation Charitable donations will not be hurt by a series of sex scandals that have rocked the sector this year, a YouGov survey said last week, with four out of five Britons promising to give the same amount of money, or more, to good causes. The future of aid appears bright, it said, […]
US Protestant churchgoers say gifts to charity, needy count as tithing
RNS Most US Protestant churchgoers believe that giving 10 per cent of their income is a Biblical requirement they should follow but they define the practice of tithing in a variety of ways, a new survey shows. About half say they can give their tithes to a Christian ministry instead of a church. One in […]
Only about a third of Protestant churches in US offer online giving option, study finds
Only about a third of Protestant churches in the US offer the option to give online, according to new data from LifeWay Research. The US-based research company said a phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors showed that only about 30 per cent of their churches offered online giving, up from 14 per cent in 2010. […]
ESSAY: TAXING THE RICH TO HELP THE POOR? HERE’S WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
Writing against the backdrop of the debate over the tax reform bill in the US, MATHEW SCHMALZ, associate professor of religion at the College of the Holy Cross, explores, in an article first published on The Conversation, what the Bible says about how to help the needy…
THIS LIFE: WOULD YOU GIVE UP GIVING GIFTS THIS CHRISTMAS?
US columnist CAROL ROUND, in an article first published by ASSIST News Service, wrestles with the commercialisation of Christmas…
Strong link found between worship attendance and religious giving
RNS The more frequently a household attends worship services, the more likely its members donate to religious institutions, and give generously, new research shows. “Most strikingly, those attending religious services once a month or more make an average annual religious contribution of $1,848, while those attending religious services less than once a month donate $111,” […]
Nine out of 10 evangelical Christians in UK to give to charity or volunteer time this Christmas, survey finds
Nine out of 10 evangelical Christians in the UK will either volunteer or give money to charity this Christmas, according to new research released by the national Evangelical Alliance. The survey of more than 800 Christians also shows that less than one per cent intended reducing their giving while almost a third wanted to increase their […]
Less than half of US churches saw giving increase five per cent or more in 2015-16, says report
Less than half of US churches saw an increase in giving of five per cent or more during 2015-2016, according to a survey of church leaders. The sixth 2016 State of the Plate survey, which is based on a poll of almost 1,600 pastors, leaders and lay people, found that 59 per cent of churches reported […]