Have you ever wondered how your church's budget and spending patterns compare to other churches of similar size? For more than a decade, Your Church has been surveying the 150,000 churches that receive this magazine and our research has turned up some very interesting findings about church budgets.

Church Budgets Nearly Double
From 1991 to 2001, the average annual budget among Your Church recipients increased 85 percent from $205,000 to $380,000. The U.S. economy grew at about half this rate, or 44 percent, during the same period of time. Meanwhile, the number of churches with budgets of $500,000 or more nearly tripled in that same time period—the largest area of growth for all the churches we've tracked (see Graphic 1). In 1991, six percent of churches spent more than $500,000 a year; in 2001, 17 percent of churches spent that much. In fact, seven percent of churches surveyed now have budgets exceeding $1 million. In 2001, the largest category for church budgets was the $100,001-$250,000 range (38 percent). In total, Your Church subscribers represent $57 billion in giving receipts and ministry expenditures.

Payroll Is Biggest Cost
The biggest slice of the church budget is by far the payroll, which accounts for 42 percent of the average church spending (see Graphic 2). Payroll expenses vary little by church size, except in the smallest churches (annual budgets of $75,000 or less). In these churches, an average of only 29 percent is set aside for payroll, with a larger share of the budget going to building expenses. Your Church recipients spent $23.9 billion in 2001 on payroll expenses.

Building Expenses
With many churches growing, taking on building projects or refurbishing their current plant (see January/February 2002 Special Report), it's not surprising that facilities are the second largest part of the average church budget. More than $2 out of every $10 goes to building expenses. Churches that subscribe to Your Church allocated $12 billion to building expenses—including loan payments—in 2001.

Missions Budgets
The average percentage of church budgets utilized for missions has remained at a steady 15 percent for the past decade. Altogether, Your Church recipients spent $8.6 billion on domestic and foreign missions.

Church Programs
Under church program expenses, we asked churches to include Christian education, youth ministry, and related efforts (excluding staff costs). Across the board, churches of all sizes designate more than one-sixth (16 percent) of their budget to church programs. Total spending in 2001 by the YC audience on church programs was $9.1 billion.

Theology Impacts Spending
Theological perspective has a significant impact on budgets for two groups—those who describe themselves as "fundamental" and those who describe themselves as "traditional confessional." Fundamental churches spend more on missions (28 percent instead of the average 15 percent) and less on payroll (29 percent compared to the average 42 percent). Traditional confessional churches spend more on payroll (51 percent) than the other types of churches.

The Studies
In 2001, 1,989 surveys were mailed and 557 were returned, for a response rate of 28 percent. In 1991, 1,000 surveys were mailed and 285 were returned (29 percent). With sample sizes like these, results are considered accurate to within plus or minus 4 to 6 percentage points.

John C. LaRue, Jr. is vice president of Internet research and development at Christianity Today International. He may be reached by e-mail at yceditor@christianitytoday.com. Previous Special Reports can be found at America Online Keyword: Your Church or http://www.christianitytoday.com/cbg/features/report.html.