wfn.org | UCC - Study Shows Financial Health of Congregations Impacts Vitality

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Study shows financial health of congregations impacts vitality

> Written by Wire Reports
> March 15, 2010

A new study on congregational health by historically UCC-related
<http://www.hartsem.edu>Hartford Seminary shows greater spiritual vitality 
exists in financially healthy congregations. Conversely, the worse the financial 
health of a congregation, the more likely it is to experience conflict.

Thus, money matters in congregational vitality and such matters were getting 
worse for American congregations even before the recession hit.

This is just one of the findings of a new survey, titled American Congregations 
2008 that is being released this week. Produced by Faith Communities Today, the 
survey is based on responses from more than 2,500 Oldline (Mainline) 
Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox and World Religions 
congregations.

The Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP) conducted the survey. 
It updates results from surveys taken in 2000 and 2005, and is the latest in 
CCSP's series of trend-tracking national surveys of U.S. congregations.

Several of the key findings of the survey were reported earlier:

American congregations, as a group, continue to struggle, facing declining 
attendance at worship, eroding financial health, waning spiritual vitality and 
increasing uncertainty about their mission and purpose.

At the same time, some congregations have shifted to a contemporary style of 
worship that has catalyzed growth, and other congregations have benefitted from 
focused leadership.

David A. Roozen, Director of the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership and 
Professor of Religion and Society at Hartford Seminary, said that, "There is a 
tendency to believe that congregations are captive to their demographic and cultural 
contexts. To the extent this is true the broad based erosion of vitality in 
America's congregations over the past eight years evidenced in the FACT 2008 survey 
suggests an erosion of religious receptivity in the broader American social-cultural 
milieu.

"But this is only a part of the story because the belief in contextual 
captivity is only partly true and, in fact, research suggests that it has become 
less true over the past quarter century. As the FACT 2008 findings clearly 
demonstrate there remain pockets of vitality among American congregations, and many 
of the distinguishing characteristics of today's vital congregations appear to be 
well within a congregation's control
? such as openness to change, clarity of purpose, attentiveness to new members, and 
appreciation of volunteers. We also are gaining a much more refined sense, as 
evidenced in FACT 2008, about the distinct predispositions of clergy leadership in 
vital congregations."

The report provides a more in-depth look at 11 topics: worship; identity; 
program; youth, attracting and tracking new members; assimilating new members 
and deepening lay leadership; conflict; fiscal health and conflict; budget 
profiles; clergy education and congregational health; and clergy time usage.

> Among the new findings:

* Oldline Protestant congregations spend close to half their budgets on 
salaries and benefits compared to 31 percent spent on salaries and budgets by 
Evangelical Protestant congregations. Oldline congregations' pay premium is 
even more striking when one recalls that Oldline congregations are, on average, 
considerably smaller than other Christian congregations.

* American congregations have gone electronic. Web access is more the norm than 
the exception.

* A newly emergent trend is satellite congregations in which sermons are beamed 
in from the primary congregation.

* Congregations that changed to contemporary worship in the past five years 
show elevated levels of spiritual vitality and growth in worship attendance.

* Conservative congregations place more emphasis on the quality of their 
internal relationships than do liberal congregations; liberal congregations 
place more emphasis on ministry to the world outside their doors.

* As in 2000, money, worship and leadership lead the way as the areas of 
congregational life most riled with conflict. Conflict about leadership is the 
most likely to produce serious negative consequences.

* Creating strong interpersonal bonds and purposefulness decrease the 
likelihood of conflict.

* In clergy time usage, worship and teaching about the faith are the top task 
priorities for both Protestant families. The Oldline congregations put higher 
priority on worship and the Evangelical congregations put higher priority on 
teaching. Catholic/Orthodox leaders spent more time and attention on 
administration than any other task.

The American Congregations 2008 report was written by Roozen, director of the 
Seminary's Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

A link to view the report is available at: 

<http://fact.hartsem.edu/products/index.html>http://fact.hartsem.edu/product 
s/index.html.

Faith Communities Today surveys and publications are products of the 
Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership, a collaborative, multifaith 
coalition of American faith communities affiliated with Hartford Seminary's 
Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Researchers, consultants and program 
staff representing 39 denominations and faith groups contributed to the 
American Congregations survey.

FACT/CCSP strives to offer research-based resources for congregational 
development that are useful across faith traditions, believing that all 
communities of faith encounter common issues and benefit from one another's 
experiences. It also informs the public about the contributions of 
congregations to American society and about the changes affecting and emanating 
from one of America's major sources of voluntary association
? local congregations. For more information on CCSP, visit  fact.hartsem.edu.

Hartford Seminary focuses on interfaith relations, congregational studies and 
faith in practice. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research has a 30-year 
record of rigorous, policy-relevant research, anticipation of emerging issues 
and commitment to the creative dissemination of learning.