Where Are the Givers?

A quarter of American Evangelicals do not give a tenth of their income to the church

The above chart was recently published the Christianity Today. It was part of their “Gleanings” section of the magazine, short bits about Christian happenings around the world.

This graph shows the percentage of self-professing evangelical Christians in America who give a tenth of their income to the church. It shows a quarter of these Americans give no money to their church. This statistic is not surprising. But what I found interesting is the last sentence.

“Giving, historically, increases with income and age, but the study notes that millennials and Generation Z are much more likely to give directly to family, friends, or even strangers than to support institutions.”

I do not find this surprising. The generations that are coming of age have been increasing suspect of the institutions and churches of their parents. Deconstruction is a buzzword today: people asking questions about what they really believe. To ask the same questions of their giving would go along with such deconstruction. And I don’t blame them.

What is the money given to churches typically used for these days? They see the monies going towards keeping the status quo (mainly salaries and building maintenance) and not towards actual ministry that helps people in their everyday lives. They would rather give directly to a person to help them than give their money through a mediator who would take their large cut.

I believe if churches want to encourage more giving, they need more adequate discipleship and real practical ministry towards the needy in their communities.