REVITALIZATION & For Crumbling Urban Congregations, an Economic Handbook on How to Save a House of Worship

by Rachael Holliday Smith, The NY City Magazine, 3/22/21.

…“Many churches have plateaued,” Hildebrandt said. “There’s just a general uneasiness about the future right now — and I think COVID made it worse.”

A cadre of clergy, congregants, land use experts and planners are fighting back against the trend in one of the places hit hardest by the pandemic with a new handbook — a bible, of sorts.

The “Action Book,” released this week by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, is chock full of answers to the question: How can a congregation keep its building, while still carrying out its mission?

…Judson founded a nonprofit called Bricks and Mortals that aims to help religious institutions cope with mounting bills and the pressures to sell.

Schaper said she’s found that small churches with fewer than 20 members are most at risk. Many haven’t paid their pastor in months, or have had their water cut, or lights turned off.

“A lot of these congregations just disappear,” Schaper said.

Nationally, about 1% of congregations close each year, according to research cited by The New York Times late last year. Brewer’s office found that between 2010 and 2020, the numbers of religious congregations in Manhattan declined by 7% from 976 to 907. 

Karen DiLossi, director of arts at Partners for Sacred Places — which also informed Brewer’s report — said the pressure is worse in Black and brown neighborhoods where would-be buyers target weakened churches.

“They may have a diminishing congregation, and maybe they have a huge facility, but the upkeep is too much,” she said. “They feel tremendous amounts of pressure to sell.”

The Action Book, written in partnership with the NYU Wagner School of Public Service, offers guidance about alternatives to cashing out. The report also explains the basics of New York’s land use rules, how air rights work, the pros and cons of landmarking a building and what to know about redevelopment.

Brewer’s guide gives local examples of how some local congregations have made their properties work for them. It describes a deal made in Harlem by Bethel Gospel Assembly to sell air rights and allow a developer to build on the church’s former parking lot. In Washington Heights, Rocky Mountain Baptist Church arranged to be part of a senior housing development under construction now.

Read more at … https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/3/22/22345713/for-crumbling-congregations-a-bible-on-how-to-save-a-house-of-worship

ECONOMICS & How to create “Dual Income Stream Churches” by #MarkDeYmaz #Exponential20 #Mosiax

These highlights are from DeYmaz’s seminar at Exponential 2020. More details can be found in his book, The Coming Revolution in Church Economics (Baker, 2019). Also, insights can be found in Mark DeYmaz and Bob Whitesel’s book, reMIX: Transitioning Your Church to Living Color (Abingdon Press, 2016).

The key is what the business world calls “ROI” or return on investment.  Church economics is, basically, “how do you leverage the assets of a chruch to bless the community and secondly to create income for the church?”

Because of the “rise of dual income streams in households” (see the Pew chart on this page) this principle, when applied to church, leads to dual income stream churches. ”

Also, the reduction in income of the middle class means less charitable giving.

“Today most churches are just managing decline” – Mark DeYmaz.

“Those born before 1964 = 78.8% of the total church giving.” – Mark DeYmaz.

“If you keep giving everything away for free, you may not be here in 10 years.”

A strategy is …

1. Leverage church assets
2. Bless the community
3. Generate sustainable income

Theologically, see Matt. 25:14-29.

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Matthew 25:14-30 The Message (MSG)

The Story About Investment

^14-18 “It’s also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master’s investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s money.

^19-21 “After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’

^22-23 “The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master’s investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’

^24-25 “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’

^26-27 “The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.

^28-30 “‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’

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Promising Practices …

I (Bob) would summarize this passage as saying that, securing church money rather than leveraging it to do more good is what Jesus is warning.

Strategies suggested by DeYmaz include …

1. Benevolent ownership:

   • Lease out you building, rather than give it away free.
   • Rent out the less attractive parts of your church
     • A carpenter rents out an electrical cage in Mark DeYmaz’s church.
     • Storage lockers are popular
     • Loading docks are needed
   • How do you explain to an organization has been using it free, that it is no longer going to be a ministry.

2. Monetize existing services

   • Janitorial services can be turned into a for-profit company that cleans other businesses.
   • Ask entrepreneurs to be enterprising, not managers …
     • Not to be greeters … then they become line workers.
     • Not to oversee greeters … then they become managers.
     • Ask them to figure out how to monetize something like free coffee (that can costs $100s a month) … then they operate in their wheelhouse as “entrepreneurs.”

3. Start new businesses

   • Can start a for-profit under a non-profit.
   • But, you must have legal advice to do it right and to ensure you pay taxes.

For more see Mark’s book, The Coming Revolution in Church Economics (Baker, 2019). Also, insights can be found in Mark DeYmaz and Bob Whitesel’s book, reMIX: Transitioning Your Church to Living Color (Abingdon Press, 2016).

GIVING & “Today most churches are just managing decline,” Mark DeYmaz. Thus, new income streams are needed in the average church. #Exponential20 #Mosiax #MarkDeYmaz

“Those born before 1964 = 78.8% of the total church giving.” – Mark DeYmaz.

GIVING & “Those born before 1964 = 78.8% of the total church giving,” Mark DeYmaz #Exponential20 #Mosiax

From his seminar (3/3/20) at Exponential 2020, Orlando, FL.

ECONOMICS & Mark DeYmaz on the evangelism strategy of the 21st Century. @OutreachMag @Mosiax

… On the spiritual front, churches must become healthy multiethnic and economically diverse reflections of their community to advance a credible witness. The (Mosiax Church, Little Rock, AK) social team exists to advance justice and compassion work through an umbrella nonprofit, and the financial team to generate for-profit sustainable income. As it stands, the American church is pitched to just one team: a spiritual team, and we’re basically getting nowhere with that right now. No one’s listening. The way you’re going to get them to listen is through job creation, the repurposing of abandoned property and reduction in crime. I believe economics is the evangelism strategy of the 21st century.

… Imagine the economic impact that ultimately leads to incredible witness through good works and evangelism if those churches would just put those assets to work. Imagine if you could wave a magic wand and turn loose those billions of dollars into America’s inner cities, into the community, into job creation, business creation, repurposing of abandoned properties. What could that investment do to change people’s lives, to see cities flourish? The church would get credit for that.

“Mark DeYmaz: The Church as a Benevolent Owner—Part 2,” by Jessica Hanewinckel, Outreach Magazine, 2/12/20.

Mark DeYmaz is the author of The Coming Revolution in Church Economics: Why Tithes and Offerings Are No Longer Enough, and What You Can Do About It (with Harry Li, Baker)

And co-author with Bob Whitesel of re:MIX – Transitioning Your Church to Living Color (Abingdon Press) … https://www.amazon.com/Transitioning-Your-Church-Living-Color/dp/1630886920/ref=nodl_

Read more at … https://outreachmagazine.com/interviews/50317-mark-deymaz-the-church-as-a-benevolent-owner-part-2.html

ECONOMICS & Five Charts That Will Change The Way You Think About Racial Inequality

by Mark Travers, Forbes Magazine, 10/10/19.

…Perhaps the best way to correct people’s misguided assumptions regarding racial economic inequality in America is to simply present them with the numbers. And, in this case, a picture might be worth more than a thousand words. 

… For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the average white family in the United States has $100. In those terms, how much money do you think a comparable black family has?

…The answer is less than $10. Most Americans guess upwards of $80. This is the crux of a new article appearing in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. Specifically, a team of psychologists led by Michael Kraus of Yale University examined the extent to which people underestimate the degree of racial economic inequality in the United States. Their results are alarming, to say the least. 

Key findings from their research are summarized in the five charts below. 

Figure 1.KRAUS ET AL. (2019)

Figure 1. The chart above illustrates the extent to which Americans underestimate the racial wealth gap in the United States. (Data was collected using a nationally representative sample of 1,008 American adults.) Perceptions of black wealth when white wealth is set to $100 are shown by the diamonds within error bars. The actual ratio of black to white wealth is depicted by the diamonds toward the bottom of the chart. It is easy to see the arrant disconnect between perception and reality. It is also the case that most Americans think the racial wealth gap is decreasing over time when, in reality, it has remained relatively stable, and exceptionally unequal, for decades.

Figure 2.KRAUS ET AL. (2019)

Figure 2. The graph above depicts perception (diamonds with error bars) and reality (diamonds) of the racial wealth divide for people of varying levels of education. In both cases, the wealth gap decreases as education level increases. Still, the degree of overestimation is enormous. For instance, most Americans assume that the wealth gap between white and black families with post-graduate educations is virtually negligible. The truth is that black families with post-graduate degrees are still only worth about 30 cents to every white families’ dollar.

…

Figure 4.KRAUS ET AL. (2019)

Figure 4. The chart above includes perceptions of income inequality for Latinx and Asian racial groups, as well as for blacks. Comparing perceptions (diamonds with error bars) to reality (diamonds), most Americans underestimate wealth inequality for all groups, but the misperception is largest for the black and Latinx groups.

Figure 5.KRAUS ET AL. (2019)

Figure 5. What might cause the gross underestimation of racial economic inequality in the United States? While there are undoubtedly many factors at play, the researchers suggest that personal beliefs regarding the nature of success may contribute to the misperception. The chart above shows that people who believe in a “just world” (i.e., that people generally get what they deserve in life) are more likely overestimate the degree of economic equality between blacks and whites.

Read more at … https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2019/10/01/five-charts-that-will-change-the-way-you-think-about-racial-inequality/#44b0bb645fb2

EDUCATION & Least educated are most likely to identify as religiously unaffiliated … those with a graduate level education are almost always the group that is the most likely to be religiously affiliated.

by Ryan Burge, Christianity Today, 4/19/19.

…the bar graph below displays the percentage of each educational group that identifies as a religious “none” (atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular).

Educational attainment serves as a very good proxy for economic prosperity and provides a solid test of secularization theory. Note that each of the six waves of the Cooperative Congressional Election Study contain between 30,000 and 65,000 respondents.

The results are unambiguous: those with the least amount of education are consistently the most likely to identify as religiously unaffiliated. The far right bar in the graph, indicating those with a graduate level education are almost always the group that is the most likely to be religiously affiliated.

If one would like to argue that education is related to secularization, there is no evidence to support that conclusion to be found here.

However, there is a more specific way to approach this problem. The above graph lumps the entire sample into six education categories with little regard for whether they obtained their high school diploma in 1968 to 2008.

If secularization was a constantly accelerating process, we would expect to see younger people with graduate degrees unaffiliate at higher rates than their older counterparts with high levels of education. In order to test this, I broke the CCES 2018 sample into birth cohorts, which are created based on five year intervals.

Read more at … https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2019/april/is-religious-decline-inevitable-in-united-states.html

ECONOMIC PROSPERITY & The more economic prosperity a nation enjoys, the fewer citizens of that country say that religion is very important.

by Ryan Burge, Christianity Today, 4/19/19.

…The horizontal axis provides a good proxy for economic prosperity (gross national product per capita), while the vertical axis represents the overall level of religiosity in a nation.

The conclusion from this graph is clear: the more economic prosperity a nation enjoys, the fewer citizens of that country say that religion is very important. There are a few outliers, however. China is in the bottom left portion of the graph, which means that based on the country’s economic output it should be more religious than it currently is, with the same occurring in Hungary.

Obviously, both of those countries have a history that is closely associated with communism, which is the likely cause of their low levels of religiosity. On the other hand, the United States is clearly an outlier on this graph. It ranks as the most economically prosperous country in the dataset, but if it were going to be in the middle of the trend line, the overall level of religiosity should be very close to zero.

Instead, just over half of Americans think that religion is very important. The United States clearly bucks the trend of secularization when looked at from this angle.

There are two possible thoughts that emerge from this. One is that secularization is coming to the United States, it’s just moving a little slower. The other is that somehow the U.S. is different and is the exception to secularization. Recent data on America’s religious behaviors can help us understand what is really occurring.

Read more at … https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2019/april/is-religious-decline-inevitable-in-united-states.html