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Passing the Plate shows that few American Christians donate
generously to religious and charitable causes -- a parsimony that
seriously undermines the work of churches and ministries. Far from the
10 percent of one's income that tithing requires, American Christians'
financial giving typically amounts, by some measures, to less than one
percent of annual earnings. And a startling one out of five
self-identified Christians gives nothing at all.
This
eye-opening book explores the reasons behind such ungenerous giving, the
potential world-changing benefits of greater financial giving, and what
can be done to improve matters. If American Christians gave more
generously, say the authors, any number of worthy projects -- from the
prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS to the promotion of inter-religious
understanding to the upgrading of world missions -- could be funded at
astounding levels. Analyzing a wide range of social surveys and
government and denominational statistical datasets and drawing on
in-depth interviews with Christian pastors and church members in seven
different states, the book identifies a crucial set of factors that
appear to depress religious financial support -- among them the powerful
allure of a mass-consumerist culture and its impact on Americans'
priorities, parishioners' suspicions of waste and abuse by nonprofit
administrators, clergy's hesitations to boldly ask for money, and the
lack of structure and routine in the way most American Christians give
away money. In their conclusion, the authors suggest practical steps
that clergy and lay leaders might take to counteract these tendencies
and better educate their congregations about the transformative effects
of generous giving.
By illuminating the social and psychological forces that shape charitable giving, Passing the Plate
is sure to spark a much-needed debate on a critical issue that is of
much interest to church-goers, religious leaders, philanthropists, and
social scientists.
About the Author
Christian Smith is William R. Kenan Jr. Professor
of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and
Society at the University of Notre Dame. He is the coauthor, with
Michael O. Emerson, of Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America
(Oxford, 2000), which was named the 2001 Distinguished Book of the Year
by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, which won a Christianity Today Book Award in 2006.
Michael O. Emerson
is the Allyn R. and Gladys M. Cline Professor of Sociology and Founding
Director of the Center on Race, Religion, and Urban Life at Rice
University. In addition to Divided by Faith, his books include United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation as an Answer to the Problem of Race, coauthored with Curtiss Paul DeYoung, George Yancey, and Karen Chai Kim.
Patricia Snell is Programs and Research Specialist for the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame.
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Product Details
- Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN-10: 0195337115
ISBN-13: 978-0195337112
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