NASHVILLE — Individuals aren’t the only ones facing consequences of inflation and other negative economic factors in the U.S., as many pastors say their churches are being harmed as well.
A Lifeway Research study of U.S. Protestant pastors found 52 percent say the current economy is having a negative impact on their churches. For 40 percent, the economic circumstances aren’t having any effect. Fewer than 1 in 10 pastors (7 percent) say the current economy is a positive factor for their churches.
The economic outlook among pastors has soured more in 2022 than in recent years. Last year, around half of pastors (49 percent) said the economy was having no impact. Only once in the previous five years, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, were pastors most likely to be pessimistic about the economic impact on their congregations. During this time, pastors had been more likely to say the economy was having no effect. The two years prior to the pandemic were the only two years in the study’s more than 13-year history when pastors were more likely to say the economy was having a positive impact than a negative one. [Read more…]