Faith in Context

Wealth Inequality and Charitable Giving

By Loren Seibold

Pew Research has just released a study that says that the recovery of the past couple of years has largely benefited the wealthiest 7%, while the lower 93% of Americans have seen net worth decline. Wealthier households hold their value in stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments that have rallied in value. But for the majority of Americans who have little or no investment in these markets—whose net worth is in their now-less-valuable family home—net worth has declined by 4%.

What will this mean for churches and the institutions associated with them? Most congregations rely exclusively on contributions, but many educational institutions are also heavily dependent upon gifts. Those who have in their constituency a concentration of these wealth holders will undoubtedly be in a better position to ride out the next few years.

That assumes that wealthy Christians are willing to contribute. Ken Stern writes in a recent Atlantic article that the wealthiest families give an average of 1.3% to charity, while the poorest give 3.2%. Stern suggests that “the personal drive to accumulate wealth may be inconsistent with the idea of communal support”, and he quotes Berkeley research psychologist Paul Piff that “the rich are way more likely to prioritize their own self-interests above the interests of other people.” The reason, he believes, is isolation: the wealthy are simply less aware than others of the needs around them. “Wealthy people who lived in homogeneously affluent areas—areas where more than 40 percent of households earned at least $200,000 a year—were less generous than comparably wealthy people who lived in more socioeconomically diverse surroundings.

The rich also contribute differently than the poor. “The poor” says Stern “tend to give to religious organizations and social-service charities, while the wealthy prefer to support colleges and universities, arts organizations, and museums.” So small churches and schools, especially those located in declining industrial and rural areas, may continue to decline, while universities and large congregations, especially those in wealthy suburbs that are most likely to have well-off alumni and members, might even thrive.

Given the increase in income inequality, that 1.3% can be massive. Charting the path ahead for ministry providers will require institutions to get the attention of those relatively isolated wealth-holders for less “sexy” projects than museums and self-named new college buildings—and that might not be easy.

How Congregations Respond to Decline: Is It Lack of Sunday Laws?

Members of a sample of declining Protestant churches in the United States and Canada report that one of the main reasons their congregations are not growing is because traditional Sunday laws have been largely disappeared and Sundays have become crowded with many activities that compete with church attendance. Many of these churches have been in decline since the 1960s and the remaining faithful feel that the secularization of Sundays is one of the major reasons why. They see this as more important than internal factors that may have discouraged new members coming on board. Yet, some churches that face the same contextual factors are growing, not declining.

An analysis of the data demonstrates that the lack of Sunday laws cannot explain the extent of the decline in these congregations. But, blaming this element permits congregations to ignore internal factors, avoid change and focus on nostalgic memories of a past era when crowds thronged the church. Bottom line: declining congregations come up with theories to avoid making the changes necessary to turn themselves around. They would rather keep doing what is comfortable for them and justify their behavior with various explanations than engage in the difficult work of mission.

Source: Steve MacMullin, Review of Religious Research, March 2013.

Will E-publishing Destroy Libraries?

There is a conflict underway that has the potential to destroy public and university libraries as a concept. The publishers of E-books do not want to sell their materials to libraries and allow multiples uses. They are insisting on collecting a fee for every time someone looks at a publication. In other words, they want to collect tolls instead of deliver a product.

This is a departure from publishing practices going back some 200 years. The fact that a book or periodical purchased by a library will have multiples users has long been accounted for in the fact that libraries have always paid more for both individual copies of books and periodical subscriptions. What the publishers now want goes beyond that precedent. They want to collect a toll every time anyone looks at a publication. This unprecedented demand creates an untenable situation for any library and threatens the freedom of information that is a bedrock value under-girding public libraries and educational institutions.

Of course, the libraries could simply purchase hard copies of publications and avoid the problem. But, more and more titles are published only in E-book format and not available in hard copy. And, more and more readers are using only E-books.

Will this conflict lead to a culture war between the sub-culture of traditional, academic research and analysis on the one hand and the culture of new technology on the other? Or, will someone create technology that effectively makes it impossible for E-publishers to lock out non-toll-payers?

An in-depth analysis was published in this morning's edition of The Washington Post here.

The Next Generation Begins

One of the most common questions that I am asked; "When does the generation begin that follows the Millennial Generation?" Some demographers have placed the end of the Millennial generation (today's teens and young adults) as early as 1994. Others suggest somewhere in the middle of the last decade. I think we now have concrete data to support a clearer answer.

Demographers usually place the markers for the beginning and end of generations based on demographic events, not cultural or political events. After all, this is demography, not sociology or political science. The Pew Research Center released a new study yesterday that provides the best candidate I have seen for a demographic event that can serve as a marker between the Millennial generation and the generations following it.

It is possible that this next generation will become known as the Great Recession Generation. Of course, it is too soon to know what label will stick. That will only become known over the next 20 or 30 years. The year 2007 had a record high number of births in America, more than 4.3 million. The next year the birth rate started a downward trend that continues. Provisional data for last year indicates it is down to a little over 4 million.

The simple answer as to why is that mothers and fathers have responded to the bad economy by having fewer babies. But, that may be too simple and explanation. An alternate theory is that the economy is down, in part, because Americans have lost the will to take risks and responsibility for communal relationships (family and civic) and the economic downturn as well as the dropping birth rate are both symptoms of something deeper.

My instinct is that we have arrived at the marker between generations and this new generation (currently three years of age and under) will most likely end being called the Recession Generation, at least initially. I confess my thoughts are much influenced by the multiple reports from economists of all stripes which predict that the Great Recession will last a decade or longer. If the economy somehow pulls out of the current depressed mode in the next two or three years, then the label won't stick. A generation lasts more than a decade and future events could change perceptions.

You can download the full report from the Pew Research Center here. I am interested in hearing other conclusions.

We Are At a Demographic Tipping Point

For some time now demographers have predicted that America will eventually become a country that no longer has a white majority. The latest census data released last week shows that for newborn babies we are already at that point. When the count was taken more than a year ago, 49.8 percent of infants in their first year of life were not white, and with the natural progression of births over the last year it is certain that the number has pushed past the 50 percent marker.

Each year, as the babies of 2010 become toddlers, then preschoolers, elementary school children, teens and finally young adults, this wave will move across our demographic landscape. Eventually it will reach 50 percent of the entire population. We now have a generation gap that is ethnic in nature.

I am familiar with generation gaps. I am from the first wave of Baby Boomers and I grew up watching a cultural generation gap ripple through our society. Some of my contemporaries might say that I helped cause the wave and did not just surf it. Now my grandson is riding a new wave.

William Frey, a leading demographer at the Brookings Institution, says that this new demographic wave "my exacerbate existing cultural generation gaps, as older, largely white generations may be slow to recognize the promise of this change." Such careful, academic language! We are already seeing reactionary convulsions.

What does this mean for religion?

The most immediate reality is that children's ministries and youth ministries are becoming largely ethnic minority activities. Even in historically white congregations, most of the people in Kindergarten are going to be people of color. Or, there will be very few, if any people in Kindergarten. Youth groups will soon enough have the same reality. There are parts of the country where this will not be a reality for another generation; the Northwest and the Upper Midwest. At the same time ethnic minorities now make up more than 40 percent of the infants in more than half the states.

Increasingly church growth cannot be a reality without the inclusion of ethnic minorities. Congregations that want to grow will have to embrace people of color and immigrants. That will force them to come to terms with the essential unfairness and enormous red tape of our immigration laws. Just as that issue has caused deep conflicts in our nation, it will cause conflicts in congregations. Christian fellowships will be tried to the core and we will find out what their true character is.

E-books Rapidly Replacing Traditional Books

In the six months from November (2010) to May (2011) the percentage of Americans who own an E-book reader doubled from six percent of the adult population to 12 percent. Major online booksellers Amazon and Barnes & Noble are selling many times more E-books than physical volumes.

This is a technology revolution more among the Baby Boom generation than young adults, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. College graduates and those from upper-middle and higher income households are also more likely to own E-readers.

What Does This Mean for Your Ministry?

For one thing, there are more people consulting electronic devices when you preach or lead a Bible study. There are lay leaders in your congregation or organization who read Scripture up front from an electronic device instead of a paper book. But those are not the primary changes this new technology will eventually bring into ministry.

E-readers have the capacity (largely unrealized at the moment) to let people link many manuscripts so that a person reading a Bible text from a cell phone or pocket tablet screen can click a key word and jump immediately to a data base of the original language or click a reference and get an array of commentaries. Therefore preachers have to be much more careful that when you cite the original meaning of a verse or word that you are certain of the material and aware of any differences between various sources. You must understand the views put forth by various commentaries because your listeners will have immediate access to that information.

All of this makes sermon preparation much more difficult and time-consuming. There is the danger that this fact will lead more preachers to do less Bible exegesis and more story-telling or personal experiences. It becomes essential for serious exegetes to look at electronic sources of information.

There is another possibility out there. If you look at the history of the Guttenberg revolution, how the invention of the printing press affected the Protestant Reformation and impacted preaching and teaching, then it is possible to do a technological projection in parallel manner. The movable type of the Guttenberg Revolution gave prominence to textual logic; words are built by putting together one correct letter at a time, sentences are built by stringing together the right words, etc. This resulted in a faith nuanced by linear logic, doctrinal propositions, etc. E-books with links to music, movies, etc., allows for a more fluid and image-rich story-telling logic. This has already begun to push Christian preaching and teaching toward a greater emphasis on narrative, emotions and a wholistic sense of human experience. Wholistic faith in the form of social justice and involvement in social action is already more important to young adult Christians than it was to their parents and grandparents. The same is true in worship styles and Christian music. What does that look like two or three or five generations down the road?

Why is Campus Crusade for Christ Changing its Name?

For people in my generation Campus Crusade for Christ is about as well known as any Evangelical parachurch organization out there. It was founded in 1951 by evangelist Bill Bright. It supports more than 25,000 paid, full time evangelistic workers in 191 countries.

Early next year its name will change to the much shorter Cru. Frankly, is it just me, or does that name make any sense to you? The explanation, according to the New York Times is two-part. (1) The word "crusade," which was common among conservative Protestants in the United States in the middle of the last century to describe evangelism initiatives, is problematic for many outside the Christian faith. It recalls one of the most unChristlike projects that Christians have ever become involved in, the violent, inhumane, oppressive  campaigns of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. (2) Most of the people actually involved with the organization already call it "Cru."

The first reason is old news; very old news. Think carefully about the second reason. What is going on here? Will similar trends affect other Christian organizations?

It is really very simple. The "space" available in the brains of the general public to hear your message is getting more and more crowded. If your organization or project has a name that includes three or four words, people tune it out. One-word names are the most effective "branding" today that gets maximum recognition, recall and engagement. Often the one-word brands that work best with those under 30 years of age seem faintly disrespectful if not crazy to people over 50. I just have to keep telling mysef, Its not about you!

The Adventist Church and Diversity

I am speaking on Tuesday and Wednesday to the annual retreat for conference presidents in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America. I have been asked to be a presenter on diversity in the denomination and structures to manage that diversity. My colleague and friend, Dr. Leslie Pollard (president of Oakwood University) is the chief presenter and chair for the sessions.

The Adventist Church Is the most diverse denomination in America for its size. (There may be some very small denominations that are more diverse, but I cannot confirm that because most of these small denominations do not have data available anywhere, electronic or on paper.) The Adventist Church has already arrived at the point where there is no longer any ethnic majority. The majority group has become another minority group. This is the point where the entire American population will arrive at around 2042 according to Census Bureau projections.

Relationships between ethnic groups have always operated on a majority-minority basis, but now that dynamic no longer works for the denomination. And in three decades it will no longer work for the American nation. We are thrust into a new world that most leaders are unprepared to understand and cope with.

Dr. David Penno completed a PhD dissertation last year on this very topic at Andrews University. I highly recommend it. His data show surprising consensus among ethnic groups in the Adventist Church on four out of five questions related to this topic. Many of the comments made on various blogs and in letters to the editor are not supported by the vast majority of church members, although the writers often assume that they speak for a widely held view.

 

Baby Boomers Turn 65

Yesterday about 10,000 people turned age 65 in America. They are the oldest contingent of the Baby Boom generation, that bubble in the birthrate or "cow in the python" that has been remaking demograpics all of my life. The Great Depression and World War II had reduced the birthrate and then in the late 1940s a sense of peace and prosperity rolled across the country for the first time in a generation, lifting the birthrate to unprecedented levels for nearly two decades. The result is the more than one in four Americans who are 46 to 65 years of age this year.

This generation has created the most individualistic, self-centered culture in recorded history. The results have been both good and bad. Boomers are more aware of their own feelings and some of them are more sensitive to the feelings of others. They are, at least in their own minds, "forever young." They are the first generation to grow up on television and Rock and Roll music. They continue fight the battle of the opponents and supporters of the Vietnam War long after the war is over. And now they face a major debate over their impact on the retirement system; Social Security, Medicare and private retirement benefits. (Increasing the retired from 13 to 18 percent of the population.)This, despite the fact that the majority of those turning 65 are not retiring and the age of eligibility for regular Social Security benefits has already been moved up. In other words, 70 is the new 65.

But researchers report that Boomers generally feel little satisfaction as they enter old age. "We're pretty glum," sums up Paul Taylor, a vice president the Pew Research Center. A study by Julie Phillips and Ellen Idler shows that the suicide rate increased among Boomers without a college degree from 1999 to 2005. Part of the gloomy attitude is the current economic downturn, but there is also a widespread feeling that lofty goals have not been met and it seems like only yesterday we were all graduating and beginning adult life.

Religion has been deeply impacted by the Boomer generation. Tradition has been deconstructed in one way or another (or several ways) in every faith. New faiths have been created, some of them avowedly "not religious." Every congregation, even those focused on correcting this error, has become much more focused on meeting the needs of the faithful instead of the needs of the world. Despite the fact that Jesus and the founders of all the world religions are absolutely against such a priority.

Will a new generation of congregations emerge that changes this priority and takes a decided stand against the self-centered culture of the Boomer generation? Will Boomers in the self-reflection of old age re-invent themselves, change their own priorities and invest themselves in younger generations and the lost among our ranks?

The Demographics of 5-year-olds

It is a routine Census Bureau release during the week that schools start in many places across America. Why would major newspapers make it front page news? Because it is a harbinger of the American future. Just a little over half (53 percent) of these children are White. Nearly half are "minorities," and we are soon going to have find a different word since all ethnic groups will soon be minorities in the way demographers use that term. One in four are Hispanic. One in eight are Black. The Asian segment has increased by a quarter in the last decade and the multiethnic segment by a third. These children will graduate from high school in 2024 and Whites will be a minority in the adult America they will live in.

This is why you hear so much reactionary hysteria these days. This is why negative attitudes about immigration have become so widespread, despite the fact that 100% of White Americans are the descendants of immigrants, most of whom arrived here without legal papers. It is really about ethnicity, not economics or the law or any of the other propaganda terms. TV personality Glenn Beck is calling for a rally on the capital mall in Washington aimed at "restoring honor" to the country. Who was the last major politician to launch a movement with the same theme? Hint: It was during a depressed economy and a time when the nation in question had a lot of ethnic resentments. He eventually won election because too many people did not vote their conscience.

This ethnic transition is not going to be easy for America. No one can really predict how it will play out and what the unintended consequences of the political reactions will come to. It will be a real test of the values of those who think of themselves as people of faith, especially the followers of Jesus.