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From Jesus and Mo.
Quite often, I post "Jesus and Mo" comic strips, not simply because I think they're funny, but because the comics make me think about my faith and my church from a different perspective.
Today, John Chilton at The Lead links to the reports of a recent study by Empty Tomb Inc, which shows that charitable giving to religious organizations, such as the Salvation Army and World Vision, has increased, even as giving to Protestant churches has fallen. Why?
From Grand Rapids Press:
A new book, “The State of Church Giving,” says congregations have waning influence among charitable causes because their focus now seems to be on institutional maintenance rather than spreading the gospel and healing the world.
Ronsvalle called the findings “unintended side effects of the ‘seeker’ mentality” that creates a consumer mindset within U.S. churches, one that says “‘We’re here to serve you,’ not ‘We’re here to transform you into somebody who serves others.’”
While church spending on operations has fallen 15 percent since 1968, the amount spent on benevolence has dropped 47 percent.
Lots of food for thought here. The costs of health care and energy hit congregational budgets particularly hard, and I'm not pointing a finger in this post. I don't have solutions to offer, either, but I foresee great changes approaching in how we do church, and we'd do well to be prepared for the changes, rather than be blindsided by them. However, I think we've seen enough already, and if we are blindsided, then the fault is ours because we look away from the reality.
