Saturday, September 27, 2003
Southern Baptists Report Donations Drop
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)--The Southern Baptist Convention could face a financial crisis within a few years unless churchgoers start giving more money to the denomination, according to an internal report.
Giving by Southern Baptist church members decreased steadily from 1968 to 1998 as a percentage of their earnings, down to 2.03 percent, according to the Champaign, Ill.-based Christian research group empty tomb inc., which provided some of the statistics used in the report.Baptist churches traditionally ask members to tithe - giving 10 percent of their income.
The report also said the percentage of donations forwarded from churches to the SBC's Cooperative Program - which funds missions, seminaries and state Baptist convention ministries - has dropped from 10.5 percent of church income in the 1980s to 7.4 percent last year.
The nation's largest Protestant denomination has been beset with internal strife for 20 years.
Many denominations are struggling with similar financial challenges, with less giving from younger generations.
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