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Do churches rely heavily on in-person collections at regular worship services?

Friday, September 4, 2020
By Christopher Hutton
YES

Many churches rely on regular in-person donations for much if not most of their income, adding financial pressure to the frustrations of being unable to meet normally during the pandemic.

A national survey of church finances finds churches depend on individual donations for 81% of their income, with only 4% from endowments. Smaller churches tend to rely on traditional in-person "pass-the-plate" donations, and even for larger churches the offering ritual remains very important. The study says 39% of churches lack enough reserves to cover three months of expenses.

Lifeway Research reports that by late July 74% of Protestant pastors were holding services again, compared with a low of 4% in April. About a third of pastors reported that collections were down from last year. Thousands of places of worship had received loans from the government's coronavirus relief program as of July.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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