The State of Church Giving through 2002 – Chapter 2 Highlights

Chapter 2 Highlights

• The composite denominations data set was expanded to include fifteen additional denominations for which 2001 and 2002 data was available.
• In both the composite set and the expanded set, from 2001 to 2002 per member contributions in current dollars increased to Total Contributions and the two subcategories of Congregational Finances and Benevolences.
• In both the composite set and the expanded set, from 2001 to 2002 per member contributions in inflation-adjusted dollars increased to Total Contributions and Congregational Finances, and decreased to Benevolences.
• In both the composite set and the expanded set, from 2001 to 2002 per member giving as a percentage of income decreased to Total Contributions, Congregational Finances, and Benevolences.
• Although both sets evidenced the same trends, the rate of decrease in giving as a percentage of income from 2001 to 2002 was higher in the composite set of communions than in the expanded set.