Money Matters: Personal Giving in American Churches

Many assumptions have been made about the level of and motivations for giving in American churches. Few studies, however, have been done to test these assumptions. The authors--church analyst Hoge, economic statistician Zech and researchers McNamara and Donahue--have produced an insightful review of the results of their study of personal giving patterns in American churches. They surveyed evangelical and mainline Protestants and Catholics on their giving habits, asking a variety of questions and correlating the answers in countless ways to challenge some conventional wisdom. For example, neither anger toward denominational policy nor membership in a large or a small churchmaterially affects giving. Trust in local leadership appears to be a dominant reason that people give well. Of particular interest is the authors' study of Catholic giving patterns, the first of its kind. Pastors and lay leaders, and certainly church executives, will find much to ponder as they seek to inspire the faithful to give more generously. (Nov.)