Calvin Synod Herald, 1972 (72. évfolyam, 8-12. szám)
1972-12-01 / 12. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 7 CHURCH GIVING ON INCREASE— BUT SO IS INFLATION Total contributions to the nation’s major Protestant churches are rising, even though membership is continuing to fall, newly released statistics show. Compiled by the National Council of Churches, the latest figures indicate that the nation’s mainline churchgoers are giving more generously than in previous years. Comparative figures for nine major Protestant denominations among the total of 42 in the survey show their total 1971 membership to be 25,583,882, or 266,750 less than the same churches’ total for 1970. Yet these fewer members contributed $2,282,628,529 in 1971, an increase of $63,433,445 over 1970’s figure for the same churches. However, with a rough inflationary increase of five per cent calculated in these figures, what appears to be a gain of $63 million would in fact be a decrease of $47 million. The churches included in the comparative figures are: The American Baptist Convention, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church, U.S., Reformed Church of America, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, United Church of Christ, United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and United Methodist Church. According to the Reverend Nordan Murphy, director of Stewardship for the NCC, preliminary figures for the first six months of 1972 indicate that per capita increased giving is a continuing trend this year. Of the churches already mentioned, all but one are recording increases from last year in percentages that range from a fraction up to more than six per cent. Smaller Protestant churches are recording gains in membership and contributions, Mr. Murphy reports. Comparative figures of the totals of the following five: (Church of the Nazarene, Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, Evangelical Church of North America, Free Will Baptists, Seventh-Day Baptist General Conference) show 638,440 total 1971 membership, 37,161 more than the previous year. Contributions increased $11,251,986 to a 1971 total of $112,724,338. Of the 42 U.S. Protestant communions reporting for 1971, contributions totalled $4,386,682,020. The average giving of a full or confirmed member for the year was $103.94. During the previous year, 45 Protestant communions contributed a total $3,826,852,386 and an average yearly gift of $96.94 per full member, the record indicates. Comparison figures between the totals of 1970 and 1971 communions however are not possible to make as several of the smaller churches do not report on a yearly basis and thus the names of the communions differ each year. The 45 communions reporting during 1970 kept $3,063,230,385 of their funds on the congregational level and spent $763,622,001 for benevolence, or 20 per cent. Dollars for Parishes In 1971, the 42 different communions reporting kept $3,539,950,471 on a congregational level and spent $846,- 731,549 for benevolences or 19.3 per cent. Thus another trend indicates that churches are keeping more money within local congregations and giving slightly less, percentage wise, to overseas or national mission projects. Comparative figures for eight Canadian communions are also available. They are: The Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, Baptist Union of Western Canada, The Bible Holiness Movement, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), The Presbyterian Church in Canada, Seventh Day Adventist Church in Canada, The United Baptist Convention of the Atlantic Provinces and The United Church of Canada. Their combined figures reflect U.S. trends. Membership decreased by 22,011 to a total of 1,356,406; contributions increased $1,496,410 to a total of $111,904,747; of that amount, funds kept on the congregational levels increased $761,239 to a total of $85,925,951, and benevolences increased $735,173 to a total of $25,978,796. If as seems probable the inflationary rate in Canada is the same rough five per cent as in the U.S., then the total contributions of these eight churches would represent a loss of $4,098,827. The annual figures were compiled by the National Council’s Section on Stewardship in cooperation with Mr. Constant H. Jacquet, Jr., editor of the Yearbook of American Churches, an NCC publication. Detailed reports based on the annual survey will appear both in the Yearbook (1973 edition to be published early next year) and in “Church Financial Statistics,” a booklet to be published by the stewardship section October 1, 1972. An exhaustive analysis on why members give to churches and how they feel about churches in their local, denominational and ecumenical expressions will be available on September 1 in the form of a new book entitled PUNCTURED PRECONCEPTIONS by George W. Cornell, religion editor of Associated Press, and Douglas W. Johnson, NCC’s director of research. The book published by Friendship Press, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, N. Y., is based on data compiled over several years by the stewardship executives of several denominations, working through Mr. Murphy’s office. —Dorothy Resenbrink Tempo Newsletter WHERE YOUR $ GOES: IN KOREA Not many Americans think about Korea much anymore. Not many, except those few whose loved ones still serve there in the armed forces or served there a decade ago, and perhaps were crippled or killed in that “police action,” as it was called. But our United Church Board for World Ministries still maintains a token of concen in the aftermath of the Korean conflict. Each year, some $500 is sent to the Pusan Children’s Charity Hospital and the II Sin Hospital. Korea has never been a major mission field of our denomination, but through these gifts we participate in work which has been carried on for more than eighty years by the United Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church, U.S., and the United Methodist Church. Editor’s Clipsheet
