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Every Wednesday night, Salem Baptist Church of Chicago dishes up complete, balanced, hot meals to single men, women and families in its community. In the first quarter of 2009, Salem saw a more than four percent increase in the number of guests served through its "Feed the Homeless" ministry. Church leaders fully expect this number to rise as the year progresses.

Located in the most impoverished area of Chicago, Salem's mission always has been to serve "the least of these," most of whom live nearby. "The community we serve always has had high unemployment," says Veronica Abney, business administrator for Salem Baptist. "We've always provided member assistance for essentials like utility payments, prescription medications, and housing. Our challenge is that the majority of our church members actually consume the resources we provide—food, shelter, medical aid. They are not the individuals giving large amounts of money to our church."

As unemployment continues to rise, both in Salem's neighborhood and across the country, many churches (more than 40 percent, according to a recent Your Church church budget priorities survey) are experiencing a decline in giving.

"We've seen a 5 to 6 percent drop in giving compared to 2008," Abney says. "This has forced us to reduce our assistance budget by 35 percent."

Funding the difference between a community's increased needs and an overall decrease in church giving is but one challenge churches like Salem and many others face this year.

To find out exactly how churches are slicing up a diminishing financial pie, Your Church commissioned NationalChristianPoll.com to survey American churches on budgets and the economy. We then convened a roundtable gathering of church leaders (see the bio box we include for details on the participants) to unpack the results of the survey from our 1,168 respondents.

Their insights, coupled with data from the Your Church survey, reveal that churches face unprecedented budget challenges as well as new ministry opportunities. Both of these will require a combination of ruthless cuts in expenditures, boundless faith in God's provision, and wisdom to know how to maximize the opportunities churches have to serve a world in desperate need of a Savior.

YC: Thirty-two percent of survey respondents say their church's budget has increased in 2009 (see Chart 1 here). At the same time, 40 percent of churches surveyed say giving is down (see Chart 2 here). What can churches do to adjust to this shortfall?

Ed Stetzer: Historically, evangelical Protestant churches tend to be tithe-driven. I think that's one of the reasons why they've have done better than the economy as a whole. I'm not saying they're doing well, but they're not taking the hit that some sectors have because people who still have jobs continue to tithe. Effects of unemployment tend to lag a bit for churches that emphasize tithing, but as the unemployment rate continues to increase, more congregations will get hit financially. Churches need to be ready for this impact.

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