You are trying to comprehend why the giving levels in your church are down. You may know several possibilities, but you aren’t certain. As I have worked with several congregations, we have isolated the issue to one or a few causes. See if any of these causative factors may be at work in your church.
- Lower attendance. Okay, I may be stating the obvious here, but it is worth noting. I spoke with a pastor whose church’s giving is down 15 percent from a year ago, and the attendance is down 12 percent. There is a high correlation between attendance and giving, even if you have a strong online giving component. It is also worth noting that attendance frequency is down in many churches, if not most churches, as well. The family who attends three times a month is more likely to give more than the same family attending two times a month.
- Generational shifts. Builders, those born before 1946, are more likely to give to the church out of institutional loyalty. Boomers and Gen X have the highest family incomes, but their giving is not as consistent. Millennials thus far are not strong givers in our churches. In many churches, the Builders are being replaced with Millennials. In other words, more generous givers are being replaced with less generous givers.
- Giving to purposes rather than organizations. From the Builders to the Millennials, there has been a dramatic shift in the motivations for giving. The Builders, as noted above, are more likely to give out of institutional loyalty. Thus, church leaders could exhort this generation to “give to the church,” and they would respond positively. The Millennials, however, give to purposes rather than organizations. Church leaders must demonstrate with specificity how the funds in the church are being used for a greater purpose. And that greater purpose must be real, personal, and compelling.
- Little teaching on giving. The pendulum has swung too far. In an overreaction to the constant pleas for money twenty years ago, more church leaders are hesitant to even mention the spiritual discipline of giving. Frankly, many of our church members do not comprehend that giving is both a mandate and a blessing, because they have not been taught about it in their churches.
- Not as much discretionary income among churchgoers. Before you object to this point, I know fully our discretionary income should not be the basis for our giving. God should get the first fruits, and not the leftovers. But the stark reality is that many people who do give to churches only give their leftovers, or their discretionary income. Though the economy has improved over the past few years, most of the growth in discretionary income has been in the top 20 percent of household incomes. Yet those who attend our churches are more likely to be a part of the other 80 percent. Simply stated, most of our church members have not seen increases of any size in discretionary income.
There are obvious actions we can take toward this challenge. We can teach and preach unapologetically on biblical stewardship. We can be clearer on the purpose or the “why” behind the giving. And we can offer different mechanisms for giving to make it more like a spiritual habit rather than a negligent afterthought. My church, with under 200 in attendance, offers traditional giving, online giving, and text giving. Many churches still do quite well with envelope giving.
I would love to hear what you think and, perhaps, what your church is doing in this area.
Posted on March 5, 2018
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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56 Comments
There was a time not that long ago when I had no hardly anything to give. This was do to an illness in the family. I had owed a lot of money, had to mortgage my home. Sometimes I only had a few dollars in my pocket. It looked like I was being selfish when I only put a couple of dollars in the offering, but it was the best I could do.
I am not a millennial. I am a baby boomer. Remember the story of the widow’s mite.
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone’s thoughts throughout this thread. With that said I believe that there is a crucial element that has been missed. I have repeatedly read that giving is motivated by a sense of duty, obedience, faithfulness, etc. and I agree with each of you that these are good and biblical motivating factors but believe that they are far from the best.
Jesus warned us that where our treasure is there our heart will be also. We give to what we value, love, and worship. Giving is a worship issue long before it is an obedience issue. I believe that no matter how faithfully we teach and preach biblical stewardship it will fall on deaf ears unless we tie such obedience to the gospel message
I am in my second year pastoring a 200+ year old church in desperate need of revitalization. Last year we adopted new language into our church through clearly defined mission, vision, and values statements as well as a corresponding covenant. I’m still in the process of saying it till I’m sick of it as Dr. Rainer suggests but I’m working to teach our people that “we GIVE because we have been given much in Christ.”
Our giving should not be motivated by obligation but by adoration. So keep your weekly midservice offering but don’t make it sound like an infomercial for the needs of the church. Guard against obedience language that brings shame to your people. Remember this isn’t a time for a midservice stick up!
Instead, show them God’s example in Christ! The God we worship is the God who gave and gives. We are most like him when we give of ourselves as he gave himself up for us, forsaking all that he had that we might be saved. Giving of ourselves means giving of those things we hold most dear, our time, talents, and finances.
A practical example: a church in our town has a couple baptism services throughout the year. They film every baptism and then film individual testimonies throughout the year. Every week while they take up their offering they play one of these testimonies edited together with the footage of the individual’s baptism. They don’t turn it into an infomercial for the ministries of the church but it provides a beautiful transition into a word about the power and impact they are making for the kingdom. By keeping that image in front of their people they are motivating them with a gospel centered message.
Soli Deo gloria!
Are comments deleted for any specific reason?
It’s very rare, Tim. Did you have a comment deleted?
Generous giving always follows a spiritual challenge to give to an inspiring purpose. In past generations, it was to build a building and send missionaries. With GenXers and Millenials, it’s to one-shot needs and to inspiring causes, including missions. The calls for giving in the New Testament largely were to help folks in desperate need, to aid missionaries and to support fulltime ministers and elders. While we need money for maintenance of buildings and supplies, leaders must cause their members to see great opportunities to give to things that glorify God. Then all generations will give more regularly and generously. People are more likely to give to visions than they are to maintenance or debt.
I think many of the previous points are valid. I feel that the change in generations has a lot to with it as well as not being preached from the pulpit enough. When it is preached from the pulpit, many times all it does is cause grumbling because here we go again, another sermon on giving. The root of the problem is in the heart. Until the heart changes, nothing else will.
The religious world has gotten away from preaching the Bible. We are in the times of “whatever makes you feel good.” Churches have gone away from teaching what scripture says and gone to what man believes. There lies another source to the problem the world and the church faces today.
Great comments everyone, so thank you Tom for inciting our thinking caps on such a “touchy” subject. I’m the pastor of Jackson Ridge BC, Rockvale, TN, a small rural church with, as in many cases, a challenging budget. I have been pastor of this church running 40-50 for a year and a half now, and last year our giving was not only healthy but we exceeded our budget needs by a huge amount. That seemed to please a lot of the folks, and yet, when the turn of the year came, we have seen a dramatic drop in our giving. The obvious observation would be, folks not longer feel we need “their” money because our bank account is so healthy. So the problem and/or challenge I am seeing, is my need to educate my people, who have not been a part of an aggressive ministry before, I will develop a Stewardship Sunday whereby I can teach that we don’t give because God has a need, but because we have a need. Giving is mandated in the scripture, and if we expect to receive His “richest” blessings, we have to walk in obedience. I am bi-vocational, so my wife and I no doubt constitute the strongest givers in the church, with no regrets, but my prayer is that my people through my teaching and the Holy Spirit’s leading will see that the Tithe is the beginning place for a believer, not the sacrificial end. Frankly, since I won’t be preaching/teaching about stewardship from a desperate position, i.e., we need money to pay bills, I look forward to it as just one more area of walking in maturity that just so happens to be a bit sensitive to not a few. Thanks again for the topic.
Thank you as well, Lenny.
All of these can be factors but don’t need to be.
1. Lower attendance – In 2015, we saw the typical 2nd (or 3rd) year dip with a new pastor of 12%, but giving was up 4%. In 2016 attendance recovered 6% with giving up 8%. In 2017, attendance was up 2.5% with giving up 3.5%.
2 & 3. I see these as related a little. I believe these come to communication. We must engage with people around these topics on a smaller level, not simply from the pulpit. On top of the above numbers, we have pursued some mission driven projects to impact our community over the past few years and have seen significant generosity from all generations. The last 2 years we have celebrated faithful giving by giving away an entire week’s worth of an offering to these endeavors. 2016 that week was 3x giving and 2017 was 4x normal weekly giving. And our regular giving on the surrounding weeks was solid. This has been our biggest catalyst for giving.
4. I do think this has also been a significant catalyst. We regularly preach on giving and seldom make the church the focal point. It is included, but by not coming across as “you have to give here” gives people confidence that we aren’t simply about the money. We also emphasize that giving is more about what God gives to them, than what God wants from them.
5. This is huge, but it goes back to teaching and mentoring. Contentment and budgeting are hardly discussed and church people have a hard time being honest about it. I have led many classes on this and the unchurched are always more willing to say “help” than the churched are. We need to teach practical advice on budgeting and planning along side the giving. We offer classes at least once per year on this.
Since when did the “amount” of money a person possesses have anything to do with faithfulness or generosity? The woman Jesus observed at the treasury was generous and obedient despite her lack. I teach that giving and faithfulness in tithing should never have anything to do with whether we have little or much. I learned this principle early in my Christian experience and I tithed faithfully on little and much and God has always supplied my need and the needs of my family. The tithe requires faith because it is given (or should be) “first” before anything else. As a pastor for now over 20 years I have identified 3 key reasons people do not tithe to their local church. #1 – Ignorance, they have never been taught. (Most have never been given the “why”) #2- Fear – I won’t have enough #3- Greed, I need it more than God or the church.
We can argue about what the local church should look like and how it should operate but it still remains the hope of the world and the Biblical paradigm of how to make disciples of all nations.
I am a Millennial with three small kids and only one income for my whole family. We are very limited in our funds, but my wife and I decided back when we first married that we would tithe first, then pay our bills, save some, spend a little. It comes down to a choice. If you wait until you have everything you need and want and see tithing as a “leftover” option, tithing will never be important to you.
You are indeed demonstrating first fruits giving, Jeremy.
And if I may borrow one of Dr. Rainer’s favorite sayings, may your tribe increase. 🙂
That was a choice that my husband and I made, God first. Even through 6 layoff with my husband, God first. I have been tithing for 33 years and have only missed 1 time giving back to God what I owe. I will tell anyone obedience is the only way. This has kept our head above water always.
A young millennial in my church told me he sat through every offering appeal and sermon on giving without ever considering he should give until he actually came to know the Lord in salvation. The honest answer to the dilema we are facing is that the hearts of many of our church members are in the wrong place and money has become our god.
If you give to the purpose and not the organization, isn’t that the same thing as not giving unless you approve of the use? Isn’t that the same thing as just making everything designated giving?
Christopher, I like your reasoning and would say “Yes”. If we only give for a purpose, and when there seems to be a purpose, we have side-stepped the first and only real “Purpose”, and that of obedience. Sure, I know that we live in a society where folks are more apt to want to “know” where their money is going to, as opposed to just placing it in a plate or online and hope that those in charge are ethical, spiritual, and just plain conscientious. But as we know, the whole church cannot be “overseers” in how the money is spent, so there has to be a whole lot of trust in those we have voted in the position of stewardship decision making.
That is provided there was a vote once upon a time. Some churches do not vote on anything or anyone.
That’s because there’s been a push by “church consultants” to make congregations led by pastor rule. The push is due to issues from the past where pastors tried to lead their churches but either the deacon board or the congregation would simply resist.
There may be a “board of trustees” solely to comply with state laws governing nonprofit entities, but the “board” is often the pastor, his wife, and three “non-family” trustees (to give the appearance of independence, but they’re actually the pastor’s fishing buddies), so in effect whatever the pastor wants is what happens.
I am a pastor and I don’t know anything about “boards,” or “fishing buddies,” or any state laws saying I have to have fishing buddies. What I do know is that every church I have seen that is healthy and thriving is pastor-led.
For the most part, I don’t buy the “not enough discretionary income” reason. I’m a genx-er but I know plenty of couples younger than me that have plenty of money and live in huge houses. They may not have much money left over but it’s because of their relatively luxurious lifestyle (relative to 20-30 years ago). There are far too many material items, such as $1,000 I-phones, that are considered necessities. When you spend all your income on expensive electronics and oversized houses and cars, then of course you will have less “discretionary” income, but you should have shown some discretion when taking out that $3,000 a month mortgage.
With that said, I also know plenty of families that would be considered low-income that still have the high dollar electronics and various luxuries of modern society.