Newswire: 6/17/20
- Due to financial shortfalls, as many as 1 in 5 U.S. churches could close in the next 18 months. Many don’t have the resources to survive more than a few months of sheltering in place—and even after they reopen, their mostly elderly congregations may not feel comfortable coming back. (The Economist)
- NH: Before COVID-19, many churches were already struggling to survive. Church attendance has been dropping for years, with the most significant declines in Catholic and mainline denominations. Pew found that in 2018-2019 only 45% of Americans attended church monthly or more. See "Fewer Than Half of Americans Attend Church' Monthly or More.'"
- Similarly, many churches have been struggling to pay the bills. With fewer people, there are fewer donations. For the Catholic Church, they have additionally struggled with massive payouts from sex-abuse lawsuits, leaving some dioceses already bankrupt.
- The pandemic has exacerbated these challenges. With the most avid believers now unable to attend services, there is no one to fill the already diminishing collection basket. While many churches are going online, viewership has steadily fallen since March. Dr. David King of Indiana University predicts that 39% of churches don't have enough cash to survive for three months. For some congregations, ignoring lockdown orders was a hail-mary to save their finances.
- Evangelical churches are in a slightly different situation. They didn't have the same attendance issues others did pre-pandemic. Megachurches were filled with tens of thousands of people each week. But COVID-19 has represented a new challenge for these once bustling operations. Megachurches are scaled-up businesses that need to seat, feed, and provide services to thousands of people. But if people can't attend sermons or the building can only be filled to a 25% capacity, people and donations will disappear. It takes a lot of cash to keep their margins in the black.
- The churches that will probably have the easiest time surviving the pandemic are the smallest and most decentralized. With minimal expenses and perhaps a volunteer preacher, the loss of donations won't be as devastating. But as The Economist points out, these types of churches are in the minority.
