Black Church Giving

Church giving is an understudied phenomenon; queries on Black Church giving are even rarer. In response to the latter dynamic, levels of tithing, income, and mission donations are examined based on a national sample of 1,601 Black churches across seven denominations using linear and ordered logit mo...

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Main Author: Sandra L. Barnes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2013-06-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013490706
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author Sandra L. Barnes
author_facet Sandra L. Barnes
author_sort Sandra L. Barnes
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description Church giving is an understudied phenomenon; queries on Black Church giving are even rarer. In response to the latter dynamic, levels of tithing, income, and mission donations are examined based on a national sample of 1,601 Black churches across seven denominations using linear and ordered logit modeling. Findings show minimal ideological and programmatic effects. However, denominational differences suggest that Black congregations affiliated with the Church of God in Christ have higher relative percentages of tithers and those associated with the Presbyterian and United Methodist faiths have the lowest rates as compared with their Baptist peers. Moreover, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Presbyterian, and United Methodist churches are more likely to have higher church incomes and mission giving than Baptists. Thus, although Baptists tend to generally have higher rates of church tithers, this pattern does not translate to higher church incomes or mission donations. As expected, church size and formally educated memberships positively influence giving patterns. Results provide important insights into the Black Church economic ethic.
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spelling doaj.art-984adc093fb949fbad2de49f25e6b4c42022-12-21T20:16:39ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402013-06-01310.1177/215824401349070610.1177_2158244013490706Black Church GivingSandra L. Barnes0 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USAChurch giving is an understudied phenomenon; queries on Black Church giving are even rarer. In response to the latter dynamic, levels of tithing, income, and mission donations are examined based on a national sample of 1,601 Black churches across seven denominations using linear and ordered logit modeling. Findings show minimal ideological and programmatic effects. However, denominational differences suggest that Black congregations affiliated with the Church of God in Christ have higher relative percentages of tithers and those associated with the Presbyterian and United Methodist faiths have the lowest rates as compared with their Baptist peers. Moreover, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Presbyterian, and United Methodist churches are more likely to have higher church incomes and mission giving than Baptists. Thus, although Baptists tend to generally have higher rates of church tithers, this pattern does not translate to higher church incomes or mission donations. As expected, church size and formally educated memberships positively influence giving patterns. Results provide important insights into the Black Church economic ethic.https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013490706
spellingShingle Sandra L. Barnes
Black Church Giving
SAGE Open
title Black Church Giving
title_full Black Church Giving
title_fullStr Black Church Giving
title_full_unstemmed Black Church Giving
title_short Black Church Giving
title_sort black church giving
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013490706
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