Communions like the OPC (and probably the RPCNA) suffer from statistic-envy. We see other denominations that are bigger, congregations larger, and buildings newer (and owned). Turns out that small churches are par for the course among Protestants in the U.S. In a post about how much congregations would have to spend if Congress cut significantly the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also came statistics about the average size of congregations in the United States.
177,000 congregations (59%) have between 7 and 99 worshipers weekly.
105,000 congregations (35%) have between 100 and 499 worshipers weekly.
12,000 congregations (4%) have between 500 and 999 worshipers weekly.
6,000 congregations (2%) have between 1,000 and 1,999 worshipers weekly.
1,210 congregations (.4%) have more than 2,000 worshipers weekly (megachurch).
As for finances, the average congregation’s budget is $55,000.
If SNAP were reduced from $133.5 billion to $36 billion:
asking a 75-member church to absorb $50,000 in increased ministry costs works out to about $666 per person each year, a 44 percent surcharge on the average worshiper’s contribution.
To make matters worse, according to one estimate, the average church budget is $55,000. In other words, saddling the average congregation with the costs of not renewing SNAP would mean almost doubling its entire annual budget. And of course, as Sullivan points out, SNAP is just one program among many that conservatives would like to slash. You don’t need a calculator to figure out that it’s more than the churches could keep up with.
I suspect that giving in some normal congregations is better than others. So maybe it would not be that hard a hit (assuming for the moment that the church in general has a responsibility to provide physical resources for the public in general). But why should Christians have all the good charity?
Old Life 