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If your church charged an admission fee to cover its expenses, how much would it cost each person on a Sunday morning? A dollar? As much as $10? In 1994, the actual amount needed to operate most Protestant churches was $16-$21 per person.

"Churches have costly operations that require money," says Loren Mead, author of Financial Meltdown in the Mainline and founder of the Alban Institute, a national think tank on church issues. "The way we have learned to do church requires money for staff and buildings. We also spend a lot of money on outreach."

Building maintenance, construction, insurance, legal fees, and salaries are all increasing, especially as churches add private schools, daycare centers, and recreational facilities. Mead says most churches aren't prepared for the inevitable money crunch. "Serious issues are coming down the pike, and many churches aren't paying attention to the dilemma," he says. Some of the issues:

• Dependence on old money. Too many churches depend on income from aging contributors. As donors die and their heirs take over the assets, churches may get less up-front. "Many church planners pin their hopes on the alleged $6 trillion transfer that will take place from parents to children over the next 20 years. This is a pipe dream," says Robert Wuthnow, director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University and author of Crisis in the Churches: Spiritual Malaise, Fiscal Woe. "Parents are living longer, health-care costs and expenses for assisted living are skyrocketing, and most assets will simply go directly to children."
• Fewer donors. There may not be enough donors to replace aging donors, partly because churches aren't doing a good job of teaching future generations about money. "We need to be committed to indoctrinating a whole generation of people who haven't been taught how to be stewards," says Bruce Anderson, president of Donne Corporation, a national church development and consulting firm. "Gen-Xers are quick to pull out their credit card but not so quick to give."
• Not enough money. According to Mead, approximately half of churches today exist on a subsistence budget. That's hardly enough to survive, much less to fund repairs, new construction, staff, and programs. "Someone has to pay for all of that, yet only 3 percent of Christians give 10 percent or more," he says.

The actual dollar amount donated to churches has increased slightly. But while the actual giving per person is increasing faster than inflation, there is a decline in the number of people who give. Furthermore, the church's market share of that discretionary income is shrinking. According to Sylvia and John Ronsvalle, authors of Behind the Stained Glass Windows and founders of Empty Tomb, a Christian research and services organization, giving as a percentage of total household income has decreased from 3.12 percent to 2.58 percent.

To the local church, fewer donations could mean future cutbacks in people, programs, and facilities. Will the youth pastor or secretary have to go? How about the music program or daycare center? What about the new classroom addition?

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