COVID depletes collection plates at churches nationwide
Biltmore is just one of an untold number of congregations across the country that have struggled to stay afloat financially and minister to their flocks during the pandemic, although others have managed to weather the storm, often with help from the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, and sustained levels of member donations.
The coronavirus hit at a time when already fewer Americans were going to worship services — with at least half of the nearly 15,300 congregations surveyed in a 2020 report by Faith Communities Today reporting weekly attendance of 65 or less — and exacerbated the problems at smaller churches where lean budgets often hindered them from things like hiring full-time clergy.
"The pandemic didn't change those patterns, it only made them a little bit worse," said Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and co-chair of Faith Communities Today.
Biltmore is just one of an untold number of congregations across the country that have struggled to stay afloat financially and minister to their flocks during the pandemic, although others have managed to weather the storm, often with help from the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, and sustained levels of member donations.
The coronavirus hit at a time when already fewer Americans were going to worship services — with at least half of the nearly 15,300 congregations surveyed in a 2020 report by Faith Communities Today reporting weekly attendance of 65 or less — and exacerbated the problems at smaller churches where lean budgets often hindered them from things like hiring full-time clergy.
"The pandemic didn't change those patterns, it only made them a little bit worse," said Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and co-chair of Faith Communities Today.
