Stewardship poll: quarter of churches don’t teach about generosity

In our July Generous newsletter, we asked readers how often they received teaching on generosity at church – and the results were eye-opening. 

From regular sermons to complete silence, churchgoers are experiencing wildly different approaches to financial generosity. 

It’s worth bearing in mind that this is no large-scale study with in-depth statistical analysis (for that, read our annual Generosity Report) and that it was completed by Christians with an interest in financial generosity. But it did give an interesting snapshot of our readers’ varied experiences, and the barriers and opportunities for the church to disciple their congregations in money issues.

We asked: “How often is financial generosity mentioned at your church?”

You answered:

This reflects the wide range of experiences in the UK church, with all answers across the range receiving very similar response levels.

Generosity as an act of worship

For many, financial giving is a regular part of church life. These respondents went on to share that most references to financial generosity were ‘transactional’ – that is, either a request to give to a specific cause or a report on the financial status of the church. As vital as these are, we would love for more churches to consider financial generosity a discipleship issue, rather than an administrative one. 

I was concerned about the number of churches who ‘never’ talk about financial generosity or for whom it can’t be a public conversation. Most attributed this to ‘leadership awkwardness about the topic’. It’s certainly a taboo conversation topic in Britain, but when so much of Jesus’ teaching focused on the significant impact money has on people’s lives, the church needs to find a way to address it more confidently.

The format will probably depend on context: it could be through dedicated giving-themed events, systematic teaching from the references to money in the Bible or through small group study. But setting people free from the power money holds over us would have a transformational effect on congregations, churches and the ministries they support.

Stories of generosity in action

But it’s not all bad news and some respondents shared fantastic giving stories. Of crisis funds set up to help a church respond quickly. Of the next generation engaged in generosity. Others shared the outsized impact their generosity was having, despite the limited financial resources of their congregation. 

Others commented on the difficult balance churches faces about anonymity. We would hopefully all agree that everyone who passes through a church should be treated equally, regardless of their giving. Many churches guarantee this by leaders not knowing who gives. But some of our respondents felt that this closed environment placed an additional barrier for leaders trying to understand the impact of their teaching on different groups of people.

What next?

So thank you to all who responded to the survey. If you are in church leadership, please keep an eye out for our upcoming survey where you can help formulate resources or programmes for the future that will support the UK church in this vital area.