Half of U.S. Protestant Pastors Say Economy Is Hurting Their Churches, Research Finds

October 16, 2025

New data from Lifeway Research shows that nearly half of all pastors in the U.S. say that the current economy is negatively affecting their churches.

Christianity Daily reports that the latest tracking survey from Lifeway Research, included responses from 1,003 Protestant pastors across the country.

Overall, 49 percent of pastors surveyed said that the economy is having a negative impact on their churches, while 41 percent said they are feeling no economic effect.

Roughly 9 percent of respondents said that current economic conditions are benefitting their congregations.

According to Christianity Daily, this year’s report shows that African-American pastors were most likely to report economic hardship with pastors in the Northeast being more likely to say that the economy is harming their churches.

The report from Lifeway Research also shows that church size appears to play a role with pastors leading congregations of 250 people or less, being less likely than churches with congregations of 250 or more to report a negative effect from the economy.

On average, churches saw a 2.1 percent increase in offerings compared to last year’s numbers, however, with inflation rising 2.9 percent during that same time period, overall giving power declined slightly.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said, “The percentage of churches seeing growth in offerings matches the average of all the years surveyed, but it has been seven years (2017) since the percentage of churches with declining offerings was at 20 percent or less.”

McConnell added, “One in five churches contracting financially is still a large number who are facing difficult financial decisions.”

Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Marek Studzinski