LifeWay Research: Pastors unaware of church member debt

While almost two-thirds of Southern Baptist pastors have preached on stewardship in the past year, a new study shows that few of those pastors believe members of their congregation have a significant amount of debt – revealing a serious disconnect with the realities of American family life.

The survey of 3,500 Southern Baptist senior pastors was conducted by LifeWay Research on behalf of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention between November 2007 and February 2008. The study revealed that 65 percent of pastors had preached on financial stewardship during the previous year but only 25 percent said their church members have "a significant amount of personal debt."

That stands in stark contrast to national statistics about the debt load American families are carrying, said Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research.

Highlights from the findings:
  • Pastors disconnected from reality of congregational debt load
  • Church members often look to pastors for stewardship teaching
  • Besides sermons, churches also conducted other stewardship training
Read the article: Pastors unaware of church member debt

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