Church researchers were wondering: What season of the year are church leaders thinking about finances? For most, they found, the answer seemed to be the fall.
Three in 4 Protestant churches, a new study from Lifeway Research found, see the turn of the new year coincide with a new fiscal year.
This tendency varies by religious group. About 87% of Methodists and 65% of Baptists began their fiscal years this month, Nashville-based Lifeway Research found. But for most congregations around Chattanooga and beyond, pastors and church committees have in recent months, perhaps unbeknownst to many in the pews, been planning budgets for the fiscal year ahead.
Who does the work reflects factors like church size and denomination, Lifeway Research found in its phone survey of 1,004 pastors.
Some churches oversee budgets of thousands of dollars. Others oversees budgets of millions. In the U.S., churches are legally exempt from many financial disclosure requirements other nonprofits face, and few are accredited by external financial organizations.