Christian Smith (1) (1960–)

"Passing the Plate" is a sobering sociological study of patterns of American Christian giving, built off prior studies as well as some original survey and interview work by the authors. In its essence, the key finding of the book is that the majority of American Christians barely give any money at all to churches and charities, especially when compared with their actual capacity to give. In fact, according to the authors' rather-conservative estimate, American Christians are currently show more capable of giving $1.334 BILLION to churches and charitable causes…in addition to their current giving.

However, the goal of the study is not to estimate the American Christian generosity deficit but to explore the reasons why so many American Christians choose to give so far below their potential. It is here that the bad news becomes even worse. What becomes quite clear is that there is a clear and fundamental disconnect between church teaching, pastoral leadership, and lay commitment and action that spans denominations. (In that sense, especially, this study is sobering for many aspects of church teaching, say, for example, on the sanctity of human life and/or a biblical understanding of marriage.) Another equally disturbing finding is that many of the Christians who do not give faithfully at their full capacity clearly recognize that they can and should do better in this area, but simply choose not to. They live with what Wiman and Emerson call "comfortable guilt." They know that what they are doing is wrong, but that knowledge is not enough to cause them to change their ways.

There are several things that I, as a non-sociologist and as a practicing church leader, appreciate. First, the opening chapter gives detailed lists of exactly how that untapped $100+ billion could be used across a broad spectrum of Christian missionary and humanitarian efforts; as you can imagine, the change it could affect is immense…"world-changing" in every meaningful sense of the term. Second, the authors' use of interviews (ch. 4) to give "faces to the figures" of the data-based chapters helps to clarify how these oft-contradictory attitudes about giving coexist within otherwise deeply-committed believers and those who lead them.

Third, the authors offer up two very intriguing models (or perhaps patterns) in local congregations' approaches to the spiritual discipline of giving (end of ch. 4). The first (and inferior) model they describe as a "Pay the Bills" approach; the second (and superior) model they describe as a "Live the Vision" approach. In this "Live the Vision" approach,

"Financial giving was cast as an important opportunity to live fully, to grow, to become who one truly is. Money was framed not as a necessary resource for organizational upkeep but as a crucial means of shaping one's values, vision, purpose, identity, and life direction."

Fourth, and finally, the authors humbly offer some suggestions for church leaders to encourage their congregants. These range from the ideological (e.g., move away from the "Pay the Bills" to the "Live the Vision" approach to money) to the practical (e.g., enable online giving methods to "routinize" generosity).

Though I am unable to comment on the validity of the methodology or the figures presented (I can only say there were a lot of 'em), I did get a distinct impression that this was carefully-done research that worked very hard not to overstate its claims, even when such claims were frankly astounding. Even though now about 10 years on from publication, I found the book an enlightening description of some of the challenging patterns I have observed in my own current congregational context. In fact, I think this would be a VERY good book for local pastors and elder boards to read together as a way to start this very important conversation. And if this book can for at least some churches and individuals shatter the stranglehold of "comfortable guilt" and motivate true and lasting change, then it will well repay the authors' efforts. And might even actually change the world. show less

This book has been really difficult for me to read. As someone who grew up on the edges of mainstream culture, I have often found myself puzzled and confused by the attitudes and ideas of my peers, especially in their perspective on education, success, and morality. The researchers of this book not only interview emerging adults to get their own words about what they believe, the choices they make, and why, but also examine the sociological implications of their findings; they look at the show more impact of the community, of teachers, of family and parents, of the media and the surrounding culture to find the foundations of the seemingly adrift emerging adult. They are quick to point out what is researched data, and what is anecdotal from their interviews; however, the interviews make up the bulk of the book, and are fascinating to read. I found much of it to be disturbing, as did the researchers, especially when it came to attitudes towards materialism, consumption, and the cursory mention of conservation by most of the interviewees.

The authors provide plenty of references for the research they cite alongside the interviews, so there is a good body of work available for those who wish to continue their studies in this field. show less

This is one of the driest books I've ever read, page-by-page - I thought I'd never get through it - and yet, taken as a whole, it's far from boring.

The authors explore a variety of research in attempt to the answer the question: Why don't American Christians give away more money? It is jammed full of statistics, which is why it's sluggish reading. What it reveals, however, is fascinating (or was to me, anyway).

For a book of a statistical nature, I found this one superbly written. Although it show more is apparent that the authors are likely Christians themselves, the writing was about as unbiased and well-balanced as it gets. They don't make any assumptions - with a few exceptions, where they are very clear about the fact that they are well-educated assumptions and not facts - but let the facts speak for themselves and arrive at only those conclusions which are firmly upheld by the research. In other words, I found no errors of logic here. The authors are gracious, as well, allowing for the minority of American Christians who truly do not have anything above and beyond that which meets their basic needs and not discounting them.

At the very end of the book, in the conclusion, there is some more subjective content, as the authors make recommendations of changes that pastors, in particular, could make to perhaps encourage more generous giving within their congregations. They make it clear, however, that these are ideas they came up with and are worth giving thought to, but which may or may not work in a given situation. In short, the authors are very humble.

I would highly recommend this to anyone in church leadership. show less

This book, when it was published, confirmed what I knew in my gut.
The sad fact is that we, as a nation, are guilty before God in making Sunday morning "the most segregated hour in America" and ignoring the words of Matthew 25. The failure of American Church, Black as well as White, has led us to this moment. Emerson's study is a stinging indictment of the church. In a very sophisticated study he opens the evangelical, and the protestant mainline church for a careful analysis of why racial show more reconciliation has failed. The only thing that can be said about American Christianity? "Mene, mene, tekel, parsin". show less