Church Spending Habits

Fewer than 5 percent of Churches of the Nazarene worldwide spent $250,000 or more for all purposes during the 2004-5 assembly year. Still, those 702 churches accounted for more than half of all money spent by local Churches of the Nazarene worldwide.

Category:	Active Churches	Total Spent
Churches spending at least $250,000:	781 (4.6%)	$459,553,294 (54.5%)
Churches spending $100,000 to $249,999:	1,388 (8.1%)	$216,530,461 (25.7%)
Churches spending $50,000 to $99,999:	1,332 (7.8%)	$96,212,775 (11.4%)
Churches spending less than $50,000:	13,619 (79.6%)	$70,604,912 (8.4%)

Recent studies by the Centennial Projects office identified five Nazarene churches that at one time spent the equivalent of at least $250,000 during a single year*.

• 1912: San Diego (California) First spent $15,522 for all purposes, equivalent to $302,914 in 2005.
• Los Angeles (California) First spent $17,985 for all purposes, equivalent to $350,980.
• 1913: Chicago (Illinois) First spent $15,910 for all purposes, equivalent to $310,486.
• 1914: Donalsonville (Georgia) spent $16,908 for all purposes, equivalent to $326,663.
• 1917: Nashville (Tennessee) First spent $24,279 for all purposes, equivalent to $366,461.

* The Consumer Price Index was used to determine equivalent dollars. The Labor Department website only went back to 1913, so that ratio was used for earlier years. All amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars.

 

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