I sat across from a church board discussing realities. Giving was static. Preschool enrollment was down. Facilities needed upkeep. Yet the congregation’s passion to reach the neighborhood remained strong.

Church leaders bear the emotional weight of caring for people and economic stress of stewarding finances. When giving is the only revenue stream, a lack of money often limits ministry.

Generating additional income is easier than many congregations realize. With economic understanding and strategic planning, even small congregations can become less dependent on tithes and offerings.

Market Forces

Let’s start with some good news. During 2024, the largest share of charitable contributions in the U.S. went to religious organizations, representing 23% of total giving, according to the Giving USA 2025 report.

This same report shows church giving is declining, however. From 1985–89, religious organizations received 56% of all charitable giving, compared to 25% during 2020–24.

Total charitable giving increased by 6.3% in 2024, or an inflation-adjusted growth of 3.3%. Meanwhile, giving to religious organizations was essentially stagnant, increasing just 1.9% — a slight decrease, in fact, when adjusted for inflation.

Merely preaching more on tithing will not solve this problem.

Even churches that enjoy stable giving will likely feel the effects of downward trends over the next decade. Two realities portend this continued decline: an aging donor crisis and a K-shaped economy.

In many churches, congregants over age 70 are funding the majority of the ministry. As these donors die, younger generations aren’t always stepping up to fill the giving gaps.

This is not just a discipleship issue. It’s also an economic one. The K-shaped economy was a model economist Peter Atwater popularized. Atwater argues that when an economy grows unevenly, one group gains more and prospers, while another falls behind.

In the U.S. today, the wages of most workers are not keeping up with inflation. Churches are feeling this stagnation pressure as people have less money — and less ability to give.

Pastors often feel responsible for changes in giving. In many cases, they are bearing the emotional burden of market forces that are completely beyond their control.

Case Studies

Tithing is a discipleship imperative. At the same time, pastors cannot ignore the economic challenges of the people they lead or communities they serve.

Alongside messages about giving, we can pray with congregants regarding their finances and encourage them to trust God as their Source.

We can also reach beyond our church walls to help people in need. When a Spirit-filled local church seeks to contribute to the flourishing of its neighborhood, the Lord will provide the needed resources and creative solutions.

Consider real-world examples of several small- and medium-size churches that are blessing their communities, leading people to Christ, and creating new income streams. Each is a multiethnic Assemblies of God congregation embedded in its neighborhood as a valuable community partner.

These churches are receiving grants from private and public sources for community services, generating income through businesses, and creating long-term funding.

We should begin with prayer, asking, “Lord, what problems can we solve that will help our community and generate income 
for the church?”

Such activity requires the guidance of legal and accounting professionals, who can help with establishing LLCs or 501(c)(3)s under the church’s nonprofit structure.

Celebration International Church in Wayland, Massachusetts, has an average weekly attendance of 130. Lead pastor Brian Faria helped secure a government grant to offset the cost of salaries for the church’s preschool.

Celebration International recently established its preschool as a church-owned LLC.

The church also created an endowment to keep the preschool operating. This is an investment account that produces interest, which then goes toward the preschool’s overhead expenses.

Additionally, Celebration International Church rents out part of its building to a private school. And the congregation maintains a substantial distribution agreement with The Greater Boston Food Bank.

Another church that is helping its congregation and community through creative economic solutions is Embassy Center MKE, a congregation of approximately 400 in Milwaukee.

Under the visionary architecture of former lead pastor Walter Harvey and guidance of current lead pastor Marcus Arrington, the church operates a laundromat, grocery store, and prep kitchen for food trucks.

Members of the church’s youth group grow hydroponic vegetables and sell them to a nearby grocery store. Not only does this generate income for ministry, but it also provides jobs and work experience for young people and fresh produce for the community. In the middle of a food desert, people can now buy products like arugula.

Kurt Lange is lead pastor of East Coast International Church in Lynn, Massachusetts. This urban, multicultural congregation has an average weekly attendance of 400.

Over the years, the congregation has sought to create the nicest coffee shop in town. The nonprofit business raises funds for ministry and serves as a gathering place for locals.

East Coast International also owns a thrift store that employs rescued victims of human trafficking. The church provides a care center and housing for these women.

Two nonprofits and multiple LLCs create multiple forms of cash flow for the ministries.

Pastor Rameses “Cheno” Echevarria leads Greater Church, a congregation of approximately 300 in Acworth, Georgia. Partnering with the county and Atlanta Community Food Bank, the church distributed 115,000 pounds of free food to its neighbors during 2024.

Greater Church’s food bank resembles a bodega, a type of grocery store that is common in Hispanic neighborhoods.

The church recently launched a separate 501(c)3 for creating additional partnerships and generating economic lift.

Neighborhood Focus

These churches are spiritually, socially, and economically embedded in the life of their communities. Their leaders understand the spiritual and socioeconomic struggles of local populations and are taking steps to minister healing.

The congregations are not immune to the effects of changing market forces. In fact, they have embraced those realities and focused on becoming part of the local economy rather than fighting it.

As Harvey often says, “The church has left the building!”

While making a positive economic impact in their neighborhoods, these ministries are also seeing tithing and giving grow as more people catch the vision and choose to support it.

The pastors and those they lead are confident God has called them to serve their communities and sustain the work of ministry.

Every congregation can adopt an economic way of thinking that addresses community problems while also financially supporting ministry. However, the first question is not, “How do we fund the church?”

Rather, we should begin with prayer, asking, “Lord, what problems can we solve that will help our community and generate income for the church?”

Then — with faith, vision, and evangelistic passion — we can think outside the offering box and reach our neighbors with Christ’s love.

This article appears in the Spring 2026 issue of Influence magazine.