The Act of Giving

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"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."

—Charles Dickens 

The results are in from Giving USA's 2025 report (for calendar year 2024) with a record $592.50 billion in charitable giving, a 6.9% increase in current dollars, and a 4.2% increase when adjusted for inflation. 

This is the first time in three years that total giving has outpaced inflation. 

Generosity —giving to others freely and abundantly —is alive and well, as donors continue to give of themselves and their financial resources to causes they care about.

Sources of giving

Giving by individuals was 66% or $392.45 billion (↑ 8.2%), foundations gave 19% or $109.81 billion (↑ 2.4%), bequests yielded 8% or $45.84 billion (↓ 1.6%), and corporations were at 7% or $44.40 billion (↑ 9.1%).  

The top five destinations for those charitable dollars were Religion at $146.54 billion (↑ 1.9%), Human Services at $91.15 billion (↑ 5.0%), Education, $88.32 billion (↑ 13.2%), Foundations, $71.02 billion (↑ 3.5%), and Public-Society Benefit at $66.84 billion (↑ 19.5%).  

Faith and finances 

The Lake Institute found that in 2024, religion continued to generate the most giving, but was the only sector to see a decline. 

"While religious organizations continue to receive the most giving across subsectors*, the proportion of giving directed toward religion has continued to gradually decline," the report stated.  

Fewer congregants may explain a reduction in giving. Gallup reports that Americans are less likely to identify as members of a church, declining from 70% in 1999 to 45% in 2023. That translates into a 25% decrease in 24 years. The highest membership rate reported in survey research was 73% in 1937, indicating that the steepest declines are more recent.

What about an exodus of older members from church? In 2000, approximately 60% of Americans aged 65 and older regularly attended church services. By 2000, that figure had dropped to 45%. That's a 15-point decrease in just one generation.

Financially, older adults are pillars of strength. The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) notes that adults over 65 account for approximately 40% of all donations to U.S. churches. Their departure is felt throughout a faith community, but especially in the giving of tithes and offerings, which many consider an act of worship.

No one should rely on remote attendance to make up for any differences in giving, as about two-thirds of Americans have little to no interaction with online worship. Pew Research shows that only 14% say they participate online weekly—roughly half the rate of those who attend in person weekly. 

A Mortar/Stone survey of churches found that median household giving declined from $910 in 2021 to $600 in 2024. However, the median increased by 47% in the same period among the top 1% of givers. 

Surveys from Finances and Faith and EPIC report that while median church income increased from $150,000 to $165,000 since 2010, revenue would need to reach $209,603 to keep pace with inflation. 

The difference is frequency

A hopeful sign comes from the Giving USA Foundation's Giving by Generation Report, which found that Millennial giving per household, which increased 22% in 2024, has surpassed that of Gen X. 

Millennials report attending religious services more frequently than Gen X. That regular attendance aligns with an earlier finding from the Lake Institute, suggesting that a person's frequency of in-person worship is the single biggest indicator of overall charitable giving. 

Worship service attendance and generosity are correlated worldwide, not just in the U.S., based on Gallup surveys conducted in 145 countries from 2005 to 2009. 

Religion — primarily churches — remains the largest recipient of overall giving, and religious giving continues to be a philanthropic priority for many individuals in the U.S., according to Giving USA.

Philanthropy is resilient 

Consider these insights and trends from the Nonprofit Leadership Center, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Nonprofit Quarterly, and consulting firm, BWF:

o Strong donor relationships and clear communication of impact remain essential. Reaffirm the case for support. Be bold and specific about why your mission matters at this time. 

o Economic conditions make a big difference. Giving is linked to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), consumer confidence, stock market performance, tax policy, and donor trust. Now is the time to double down on transparency, governance, and impact reporting.

o Diversify funding streams. No one source. Prevent the organization from becoming vulnerable. 

o Expansion and promotion of online giving corresponds with a higher level of giving on digital platforms. 

o Charitable giving is higher, but the number of donors continues to decrease. Fewer donors are giving more money. Donor attrition and lower retention rates erode the future pipeline. AI is providing tools for retention and for identifying major gift prospects, but staff must know how to use them effectively. 

o More households are not creating wills. The numbers have dropped from 24% in the 2025 report compared to 33% in the 2022 report. More than half have no estate planning at all. The wealthy are increasingly turning away from wills and toward trusts and other sophisticated estate planning vehicles. 

o The two markets are baby boomers and younger generations. Donor-advised funds (DAFs),  qualified charitable distributions (QCDs), and required minimum distributions (RMDs) are means to a successful fundraising end with those demographic cohorts. 

An intelligent relationship

"The single biggest mistake people make in fundraising is not asking for money," says Stephanie Roth, a principal of Klein & Roth Consulting. "The next biggest mistake people make is the failure to understand that building a base of loyal donors involves much more than asking for money."

Discerning where people are in their relationship with a nonprofit is a good place to start. Donors support charities that can effect the change they seek in the world. Therefore, the importance of knowing in advance whether there's a values match between the parties cannot be overstated. 

The question is, how to create that kind of relationship?

Ms. Roth answers that "Like any other relationship, donors require some attention, some thought, and some common sense to help make that relationship as strong and meaningful as possible." 

*Churches, denominations, religious media, and missionary societies.

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Learning From History: What Not to Do

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"To be ignorant of what has occurred before you were born is to remain always a child."

 —Cicero

On November 4, 2011, during a lecture at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough (John Adams, 1776, Truman) rephrased Cicero's quote to say, "A leader who does not read and study history has the outlook of a child."

Regardless of which version is preferred, the quote explains the current state of ingenuous leadership, as history teaches us how to behave. Unnecessary mistakes are repeated when learning from the mistakes of others is absent. 

The problem's source

Scholar and friend, Dr. Stan Ingersol, educated at Duke University, observes that we don't truly know history. "Historical ignorance is pervasive. The study requires a prerequisite interest that many people do not have," he notes. Dr. Ingersol goes on to say, "That in place of serious historical study, people then create myths about the past and use those myths to guide their thinking."

A 2018 analysis by the American Historical Association found that since the 2008 recession, history has suffered the steepest decline in undergraduate majors among all humanities disciplines. Data from the University of Michigan suggest that this downward trend is national, although not inevitable. 

Eighth graders' knowledge of both history and civics fell significantly between 2018 and 2022, according to the latest scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). After modest increases over the last few decades, performance in both subjects has returned to levels measured in the 1990s, when the subjects were first tested, according to The 74 website, a statistical educational database.

Taken together, the scores provide only the latest evidence of declining U.S. academic performance across a range of disciplines, says the report. 

Learning from history

B. H. Liddell Hart (1895-1970) was a military historian who wrote tracts on Sherman, Rommel, and the principles of military strategy. His insight into human nature, as seen through the lens of war's folly, of which Hart was active in three (WWI, WWII, and the Cold War), may be his most significant contribution to the topic. 

In Why We Don't Learn from History, here are Hart's invaluable lessons:

• We begin with the importance of the truth that man could, by rational process, discover truth about himself—and about life. That this discovery was without value unless its expression resulted in action as well as education. To this end, he valued accuracy and lucidity.
• The object of history is to determine what has happened while trying to understand why it happened. History has limitations as a guiding signpost, for although it can show us the right direction, it does not give detailed information about the road conditions. 
• Even if history does not teach us what to do, we can learn what to avoid by identifying the most common mistakes that mankind is apt to make and repeat. Learn by experience or profit by the experience of others.  
• History is the record of man's steps and slips. It shows us that the steps have been slow and slight; the slips quick and abounding. It provides us with the opportunity to profit from the successes and failures of our predecessors. 
• That history is the corrective to all speculation. 

Is historical entertainment the answer?

First, there was Ken Burns on an old medium—broadcast television. The Civil War, Baseball, and The Vietnam War are highly rated productions that informed diverse audiences. Burns' newest documentary, The American Revolution, premieres this November 16. 

Now, with the advent of technology, the market for "people stories" is expanding into new realms.

Published reports indicate that the business of history is thriving in audio, with the genre becoming one of the most successful in the podcasting industry. 

Podcasts like The Rest Is History attract large audiences. Hosted by historian and author Dominic Sandbrook and popular historian Tom Holland, this podcast, launched in November 2020, is the highest-ranked U.K. podcast on Spotify and Apple and in the top ten on U.S. charts.

In October of 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that The Rest Is History achieved 11 million downloads per month. And that seven out of ten listeners were under the age of 40.

Story-telling is a powerful medium.

There is a surge in sales of history books. In the U.S., history was one of the few book categories to experience growth, with sales increasing by about 6%. In the U.K. and Ireland, sales of history books reached their highest levels since record-keeping began.

What about streaming? Nonfiction programming, including historical documentaries, is a rapidly growing category on platforms like Netflix. That kind of access has helped programs like "Roman Empire" and "Testament: The Story of Moses" reach a broader audience and increase funding for production.

Concludes one industry expert: "The apparent contradiction between the decline in academic history and the rise of popular history media reflects a broader trend in how the public engages with the past." 

Why history matters

Peggy Noonan, a Pulitzer Prize winner herself, draws our attention to a newly published volume, History Matters, from Simon & Schuster, which features a collection of David McCullough's essays, interviews, and speeches. 

In that book, McCullough, who passed in 2022, and who wrote all fifteen books on a second-hand Royal manual typewriter, offers this reminder: "History teaches, reinforces what we believe in, what we stand for, and what we ought to be willing to stand up for."

"At their core, the lessons of history are largely lessons of appreciation," he writes. 

Everything we have, he says, all the great institutions, the arts, our law, exists because those who came before us built them. Why did they do that? What drove them, what obstacles did they face, and how are we doing as stewards and creators?

"Indifference to history isn't just ignorant, it's rude," McCullough notes.

Is learning about the history of your organization worthwhile? Could that exercise provide a new perspective on why it exists, what it believes in, what it stands for, and the sacrifices made to arrive at this moment?  

While information is abundant and AI is an increasingly prevalent reality, the well-springs of institutional knowledge are running dry. 

Regardless of the season, now is the time to draw from those fountains of wisdom and experience. Not to know what to do, but to avoid the most common, repeatable, and costly mistakes of the past.  

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What's So Great About Duct Tape

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"Duct tape is not a perfect solution to anything. But with a little creativity, in a pinch, it's an adequate solution to just about everything."

 —Jamie Hyneman 

The lists are extensive when you search the Internet and inquire about the possible uses of duct tape, a product originally developed for the military. 

Applying duct tape to the bottom of furniture with the adhesive side facing up creates temporary sliders, protecting floors from scratches.

That same material offers a creative and temporary bug trap to keep pests away from your home. What about taping a small hole in a shed roof to keep water out?  

Or covering an accessible splinter with duct tape and then gently pulling it out to remove the wood or fiberglass. Fixing a cracked plastic or a split in your office chair. Even keeping the cover on a worn leather Bible. 

Duct tape can be used just about anywhere, except on air ducts, since these need to withstand temperature fluctuations, according to HVAC contractors.

A successful failure

One of the more ingenious uses of duct tape occurred during the Apollo 13 moon-landing mission, which ultimately failed to reach the lunar surface. 

Apollo 13, made famous by the Oscar-winning movie of the same name, starring Tom Hanks, launched on April 11, 1970. The Apollo spacecraft consisted of two independent spacecraft joined by a tunnel: the Orbiter Odyssey and the Lander Aquarius. That design would prove pivotal for Commander James Lovell (March 25, 1928-August 27, 2025), Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise (November 14, 1933-), and Command Module Pilot John "Jack" Swigert (August 30, 1931-December 27, 1982). 

In documenting the Apollo 13 flight, Dr. Elizabeth Howell reports that a fire ripped through one of Odyssey's oxygen tanks and damaged another. "Oxygen fed the fuel cells in the spacecraft, so power was also reduced," Dr. Howell notes. "Fortunately, the spacecraft Aquarius — designed to land on the Moon — was still in working order."

But Aquarius didn't have a heat shield, so it wouldn't survive re-entry back to Earth. The crew crammed themselves into Aquarius — designed for two people, not three — and began the long, cold journey home.

"Without a source of heat, cabin temperatures quickly dropped to near freezing. Food became inedible. Water was rationed to cool the hardware down," says Kimberly Hickcock, a free-lance science writer. "In the hours before splashdown, the exhausted crew scrambled back over to the Odyssey and powered it up." 

The astronauts are saved — by duct tape

The New York Times reported that the day after astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert returned to Earth on April 17, 1970, near Samoa, President Richard Nixon awarded NASA's mission operations team the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

In his remarks, President Nixon singled out Ed Smylie and his deputy, James Correale. 

Why these two engineers among the 60-member team?

Smylie was at home on the evening of April 13 when Jack Swigert, not James Lovell (as in the movie), radioed mission control with this famous (and frequently misquoted) line: "Uh, Houston, we've had a problem."

The engineer responsible for safety was aware of the issue with the astronauts' retreat to the Lunar Excursion Module. Designed for two astronauts, three humans would generate lethal levels of carbon dioxide, Smylie thought.

To survive, the astronauts would have to refresh the canisters of lithium hydroxide that absorb the poisonous gases in Aquarius. 

Smylie and the other engineers have less than two days to invent a solution using materials already onboard the spacecraft, a crisis depicted in Ron Howard's 1995 blockbuster film.

A printout of supplies included two lithium hydroxide canisters, plastic bags used for garments, cardboard from the cover of the flight plan, and a roll of gray duct tape, according to the Times.

"That's where we were. We had duct tape, and we had to tape it in a way that could hook the environmental control system hose to the command module canister," Smylie said in an Apollo 13 documentary, XIII, produced in 2001. "Command module canisters were square, and lunar modules were round. You can't put a square peg in a round hole, and that's what we had."

The astronauts followed the mission control instructions, and the adapter, using duct tape, worked. They could breathe safely in the lunar module for two days as they awaited the appropriate trajectory to fly the hobbled command module home.

A simple product and a humble man

The proverb "Tools require someone who knows how to use them" is apt here. The value is not in the tool but in the knowledge and skill of the user.

The same was true for Ed Smylie, who passed away in May of this year at the age of 95.

A graduate of Mississippi State University with bachelor's and master's degrees, Smylie applied for a job at the space agency in Houston, Texas, upon hearing President John F. Kennedy announce plans to send astronauts to the Moon. Smylie eventually became chief of the crew systems division, which was responsible for the life-sustaining equipment used by Apollo astronauts in space. 

As to his quick response with lives at stake, "If you're a Southern boy, if it moves and it's not supposed to, you use duct tape," he said during the documentary, always playing down his ingenuity and role in saving the Apollo 13 crew.

"We would have died had their solution not worked," Fred Haise said in an interview. "I don't know what more you can say about that."

Sometimes complex problems are solved with simple solutions and the tools at our disposal. Such was the case with Apollo 13.

In frigid conditions nearly 240,000 miles from home, astronauts Lovell, Haise, and Swigert were thankfully reminded by NASA engineers why there's something great about duct tape.

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Until September

© Data USA

A Quiet Lake

‘tis by a quiet, glassy lake

astride an island cool and green,

where I have chosen to awake.

Of all the paths that I could take

I choose the one that can redeem

‘tis by a quiet, glassy lake.

Before I sleep one glance I take

At this fond place whereof I dream

Where I have chosen to awake.

I picked this place for my soul’s sake,

And chose not swiftly flowing stream,

‘tis by a quiet, glassy lake.

It’s free of thunder, noise and quake

And other ills I find extreme,

Where I have chosen to awake.

It’s where my life can take its break,

Where I can cease to plan and scheme.

‘tis by a quiet, grassy lake

Where I have chosen to awake.

--Allpoetry/kirbysman 

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Remembering Charles Handy 1932 - 2024

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"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."

—Alfred Lord Tennyson

We are told that a wise counselor judges things as they are, not as they are said or acclaimed to be. 

Suppose it were necessary to sum up the life and works of Irish-born author and social philosopher Charles Handy, who passed on December 13, 2024, at 92. His mission, simply stated, was to get top management to question conventional wisdom and consider the moral implications of their strategies. 

Handy's disciplines included choosing his words carefully. 

"... he employed the Socratic method of inquiry to learn about those seeking help and the nature of their problems."

A Fortune magazine article published on October 31, 1994, was retrieved. That six-page cover story with photos gives the reader a close look at Oxford and MIT-educated Charles Handy's thinking, at least to the age of 62. 

Adding another 30 years of advising diverse groups, such as PepsiCo, BP, Silicon Valley start-ups, and the Save the Children's Foundation, means that more than half a century of sound management thought has been shared privately and publicly in Handy's 23 books. 

An engagement with Charles Handy, the son of a Protestant clergyman and the only layman to deliver a religious Thought for the Day on the BBC, began with a required visit to his 19th-century apartment in suburban southwest London. There, he employed the Socratic method of inquiry to learn about those seeking help and the nature of their problems.

Discontinuous thinking

The Age of Unreason was my first Charles Handy book, and it was filled with fresh ideas. Published in 1989, it forecasted faster and more unpredictable change, which would materialize in the form of the internet, terrorism, smartphones, the COVID-19 pandemic, and artificial intelligence. 

In his "shamrock organization," Handy envisioned a corporate headquarters that would shrink, with more tasks outsourced. The shamrock design has three types of workers: a core of permanent employees, a group of contract workers, and a flexible labor force. The criticism is that flexible but casual workforces often lack the discipline of on-site supervision and exhibit a loss of corporate culture. 

Handy also foresaw that associates may not stay with one company for a lifetime but would have a "portfolio" of experiences, including entrepreneurial opportunities.

"My job is to be ten years ahead, which is why many people tend to say I'm stupid," says Handy to Fortune reporter Carla Rapoport. How do you associate a self-disparaging term with someone who sold two million books and commanded respect and high fees from global clients? 

Yet, Charles Handy admitted to making mistakes throughout his career. 

That learning process would culminate in "decent doubt" and being open to the possibility of wrong decisions and alternative perspectives. Handy believed that questioning one's assumptions helps reduce the impact of potential mistakes. 

His teaching used management metaphors. For example, the sloping lines of a sigmoid curve indicate that companies will eventually fail if they do not adapt and reinvent themselves during good times. 

The book brought Handy to the attention of leaders everywhere. He believed that discontinuous change necessitated discontinuous thinking about profound social and economic shifts, and that the past was an unreliable guide for navigating what comes next. 

A designed future

The New York Times obituary highlighted how Handy envisioned decentralized, community-oriented "federal organizations" in which a small corporate headquarters served the needs of diverse and far-flung business units. The corporate center would retain key financial control, while the creative and production energy would be centered among workers close to the customers.

Handy taught that corporations should be viewed as communities of individuals who need to be nurtured and inspired by a worthy purpose, rather than machines to be re-engineered. Getting bigger didn't have to be the goal; getting better was enough.

"I truly believe that managing people, instead of leading them, is wrong ..."

"Why are villages and platoons better than mass organizations? Because they are human scale. They allow you to be a person, not a cog. Already, young people are turning away from the traditional pyramid organizations in which you clamber your way up the hierarchy over the years. The world of work is increasingly going to realize that small is better," said Handy at age 87, writing to his four grandchildren in 21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges. The purpose of the book was to help them with life's choices.

What didn't he do?

Handy said he struggled with management responsibilities while working at Shell. That may explain why the one thing he couldn't do was teach people to manage. That would only come with practice, if at all.

"I truly believe that managing people, instead of leading them, is wrong and has resulted in too many dysfunctional and unhappy workplaces. People are more than a human resource," Handy wrote in 21 Letters. 

He also avoided prescribing behavior. "In most human situations, there is no textbook answer. You have to make your own judgments most of the time," Handy observed. 

Upon further reflection

Charles Handy said the following—

• Steer clear of consultants. No one is better qualified to solve your problems than you.
• Retirement should be banned. Society can't afford it.
• Language can trick you into believing in ways you would normally avoid. Words are devious, dangerous things. Always watch your language lest you send messages that you never intended.
• Progress depends on unreasonable people, for they are the ones who try to change the world, while reasonable people adapt to it. 

A favorite Handy quote:

"The companies that survive the longest are the ones that work out what they uniquely can give to the world—not just growth or money but their excellence, respect for others, and ability to make people happy. Some call those things a soul."

A loss of light and love

In 1960, at a party in Kuala Lumpur, Charles Handy met his future wife, Elizabeth Ann Hill, who worked for the British High Commission in Singapore. She became a successful professional photographer, Mr. Handy's agent, and business manager.

In 2018, Elizabeth Handy was killed in an automobile accident in Norfolk County, England. Mr. Handy was driving their car.  

 

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Improving the Worship Service Experience

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"You're not going to find the perfect church experience."

--Traci Rhoades

Historians teach that the Christian church began almost 2,000 years ago. The Greek word "ekklēsia," translated as "church" in the New Testament, simply means "assembly" or "gathering." The early Christians, mostly Jewish, borrowed the term "ekklēsia" from the popular Greek translation of the Old Testament, which referred to Israel's sacred assemblies. 

In the New Testament, the Book of Acts shows that attending church or gathering for worship and fellowship originated from the early Christian communities, which, after Jesus' death, met in small groups to share meals, teachings, and prayer. And without dedicated buildings.

In The Sabbath Complete: And the Ascendency of First Day Worship, Terrance D. O'Hare says the importance of church attendance in Christian theology is delineated in Hebrews 10:25, "Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back is drawing near."

Many have either not read Hebrews 10:25 or no longer subscribe to its teaching. In developed countries, and long before the pandemic five years ago, an increasing number of households simply stopped attending.

A global look

"About four in ten adults in the average country surveyed say they attend religious services at least weekly. But this figure varies widely in different parts of the world," the Pew Research Center reports. 

Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with predominantly Christian or Muslim populations, such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Uganda, tend to have the world's highest levels of regular worship attendance. 

Pew describes Europe as being on the other end of the spectrum. 

In Asia and the Pacific, weekly attendance is highest in Indonesia and lowest in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and China. 

Gallup survey averages from 2021 through 2023 show that 30 percent of U.S. adults attend every or almost every week, and 44 percent of Protestants/Christians participate at the same frequency. 

A 2023-2024 Pew Religious Landscape study of the U.S. with more sub-group detail has Protestants at 40 percent weekly or more often, Evangelicals at 50 percent, Mainline at 23 percent, and Historically Black at 33 percent. 

Pew reports in that same Landscape study that Christianity in the U.S. has slowed its decline and may have leveled off. 

As for shifts in organized religion, the number of Protestants who self-identify as "nondenominational" has doubled since 2007, from 9 to 18 percent in Pew's most recent study. 

" ... studying religion is more prudent than trying to predict its future."

Pew says that in future years, we may see further declines in the religiousness of the American public for these reasons:

• Young adults are far less religious than older adults.
• No recent birth cohort has become more religious as it has aged.
• Compared with older adults, fewer younger adults with a highly religious upbringing are still highly religious.

The lesson here is that studying religion is more prudent than trying to predict its future.

Why go to church

Have you ever asked someone why they attend church?

A Gallup Poll taken before Easter in 2018 revealed that sermon content could be the most important factor in how soon worshippers return. Seventy-six percent of respondents noted sermons or talks that either teach about Scripture or help people connect religion to their lives as a major factor "spurring their attendance." 

Among families, spiritual programs geared toward children and youth are a main draw for 64 percent of worshippers. Community outreach, volunteer opportunities, and dynamic religious leaders are also important to the majority, at 59 and 54 percent, respectively.

A great choir, praise band, or other spiritual music was last on the list, with 38 percent saying it was important.

Who attends

People of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds go to church, some more frequently than others. Who are most likely to be regular attendees? Older, educated households, those in their mid-50s and up who have college degrees.

According to a Household Pulse Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and released in 2024, education, age, and children are the three factors driving attendance. Among those with a bachelor's degree who are parents, about 30% are weekly attendees—that's three times higher than those who do not have children.  

People with a college degree are likelier to attend than those with a high school diploma. Older more likely than younger households. Those with children participate with a higher frequency than those who don't. 

 

Professor Ryan Burge says the magic combination is clearly having a good education and being a parent—both make someone much more likely to attend church.

Faith in daily life

Gallup concludes that the primary motivation for those attending worship services is learning more about the tenets of their faith and connecting that faith to their lives. That is, taking core biblical principles and learning to apply them to everyday circumstances.

Pew says those same sermon qualities are important to about half of U.S. adults who have looked for a new church or parish at some point, most commonly because they've moved. They want a new house of worship where they like the preacher and the tone set by church leadership. 

"Fully 83 percent of Americans who have looked for a new place of worship say the quality of preaching played an important role in their choice of a congregation. Nearly as many say it was important to feel welcomed by clergy and lay leaders," Pew reported.

The style of worship service and location also factored in the decision, as 85 percent attended services at a church being considered.

As for the next generation, "The fact remains that 80 percent of young adults say growing closer to or learning about God are the two most important reasons to attend church," according to the Barna Group.

Laura Vanderkam offers sensible advice: "Treat the young as adults."

Where to begin

One way to define a worship service experience for regular attendees and visitors is any activity before, during, and after the service, whether on or off the property or online. 

That menu could include prayer, Bible reading, announcements, social media, signage, music, AV, invitations to worship, and follow-up. The appearance of the building and grounds should also be considered, as the exterior is the congregation's most visible representation.

How often do churches evaluate the corporate worship service experience? Like other concerns, most seem satisfied with their current situation.

Churches frequently continue to do what works—well past when it no longer works. Without feedback, they don't always realize when a program stops working. Loyalty enables churches and ministries to decline, as their members don't always abandon them overnight. It also allows churches to repair themselves if they desire to do so.

Three of the most significant changes within a faith community are the lead pastor's departure, the move to a new location, and a name change.

In any of those situations, we recall Dr. William Bridges' counsel that it's not the change that gets us; it's the transition.

How to improve

A common mistake in rethinking any component of a church ministry (or anything with a public interface) is localizing the improvement, not connecting the effort to the church as a whole. The net effect can potentially lower the church's performance as a whole. Isolated improvements can actually make matters worse, as Boudwijn Bertsch from the Netherlands has shown in his studies.

For example, attracting families with infants (who are significantly more likely to be in church than those who are raising older kids) without a clean, safe, and supervised nursery can be a problem. Launching an initiative for community engagement without enough advance notice and training can be self-defeating.

"While no church can do everything, 

every church can do something ..." 

Corporate worship is indispensable within the body life of a church, but it does not stand alone. A community of faith cannot be divided into independent parts without losing its strengths. Any significant improvement or change in corporate worship will likely spill over into other areas, such as small groups, youth and children's ministries, ushers, and greeters. 

It's helpful to create an improvement checklist and review it periodically. Ask how the church can do better; some will be reluctant to speak. Members who leave seldom say why. Visitor comments provide a different but much-needed perspective. Letting them know their opinions are important is a wise thing to do. 

Know your strengths and lean into them. Avoid comparing your church to others. Although some decisions are irreversible, be prepared to modify changes that may need adjustment. Use a trial period if appropriate. 

To maintain credibility, and certainly as a courtesy, leadership should explain changes, why, and potential benefits.

While no church can do everything, every church can do something to make a difference in someone's life. 

Attending in propria persona

Here is a quote from a previous Strategist Post that bears repeating:

"Virtual services, webcasting, and online Bible studies are certainly better than no religious participation. However, none is likely a fully adequate replacement for the in-person meetings and community," wrote Harvard professor Tyler J. VanderWeele, who studies these interactions. 

Digital worship, like remote work and schooling, lessens the magnitude of a communal experience. Of course, health, job schedules, and caregiving are legitimate reasons for online worship. That format helps avoid social isolation, which may be harmful. 

Alternatively, in-person worship is a layer deeper than virtual worship; let's call it presence, which is what ministry is meant to be.

Online and electronic giving are acts of worship and reliable sources of income. Still, in-person per capita giving is twice that of those who worship remotely, according to a 2023 study by the Hartford Institute of Religion Research. 

A church home

While focusing on faith's vital benefits, we sometimes forget that religion offers additional support. "There is a mounting body of empirical evidence suggesting that people who are active in their faith tend to be the recipients of several important physical and mental health benefits," says Byron Johnson, professor of social sciences at Baylor University.

Jeff Haanen, founder of the Denver Institute for Faith and Works, writes about the potential gains from frequent in-person worship attendance:

"Sociologists say church involvement is associated with many benefits for children and adults. Kids who go to church have higher academic achievement, better relationships with parents, and more participation in extracurricular activities. 

"Churchgoers are in better health and live longer." 

And they're the most generous with their charitable contributions to religious and secular causes.

Breaking bread

Potluck dinners could be the beginning of much-needed fellowship and support for people from all walks of life. There are numerous unchurched, and loneliness is a global health concern. The right response is to be inviting, welcoming, and caring. 

To paraphrase Russel Ackoff, "A church is as good as the product of its interactions."

Even if those new to a faith community don't fully understand what it's about, they'll know kindness when encountered, which is "the early church" way of improving a worship service experience. 

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Leading With Self-Control

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"Let your breath be the first word."

—Jefferson Fisher

What contributes to CEO failure? 

"How do CEOs blow it? More than any other way by failure to put the right people in the right jobs—and the related failure to fix people problems in time," says Ram Charan and Geoffrey Colvin in a timeless FORTUNE magazine article published in June 1999. 

"Specifically, failed CEOs are often unable to deal with a few key subordinates whose sustained poor performance deeply harms the company. Everyone around the leader knows about these problems, but their opinions are ignored," the writers added. 

CEOs know there's a problem, but they suppress it. 

The article concludes that the failure is one of emotional strength.

Defining self-control

Self-control plays three vital roles: thinking before acting, controlling disruptive emotions and impulses, and saying "no" to temptation. However important this characteristic is, it's often overlooked when hiring. 

Dr. Christopher Barnes from the University of Washington reports that self-control varies over time within the same person. 

The studies point in these directions:

• It's a time-limited response. Too much is used in one place, leaving less to be used in another. 
• Think of it as a finite cognitive resource. Exerting self-control can negatively affect future self-control if not replenished.
• As self-control depletes, one is more likely to succumb to temptation. Even good people can have weak moments.
• Different types of self-control tap into the same pool of limited resources.

Temperament (personality) and self-control are closely related but not the same. Temperament is innate and influenced by biological factors. Self-control, learned over time, is the key to managing one's temperament effectively. 

Desirable habits

Embracing self-control has many rewards, including better people decisions.

A self-regulated condition means eating healthy, improving job performance, and forming higher-quality friendships. Inspiring and intellectually challenging associates rather than abusing and micro-managing them is a plus.

Without self-control, we revert to impulsive decision-making, emotional outbursts, and difficulty managing stress. The literature cautions against sending a text or email or calling someone when angry, as words written or spoken can never be returned. 

Judicious restraint using the 24-hour reply rule is a teachable moment, as others pay more attention to what we do than what we say.

A reflective leader

Psychologists define reflection as evaluating our thoughts, behaviors, and motivations. This process is about self-awareness, knowing who we are, and clarifying the boundaries of our lives. Furthermore, this prearranged time helps us assess the quality of our circumstances. 

In the age of noise, leaders need to be alone and offline. As the playwright Jon Fosse declares, "The silence speaks."

Suppose we don't periodically reflect on what matters to us. In that case, we can be misdirected by outdated thinking. Or, confused by a disorienting culture whose moral fabric is rated poor by 54 percent of U.S. adults, according to a 2024 Gallup Poll. In that same survey, 83 percent of respondents said that moral values are worsening.  

"Leaders have to get outside the emotional climate of the day," writes Edwin Friedman in A Failure of Nerve—Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix. "Vision is generally considered a cerebral event, but the ability to see things differently is an emotional phenomenon," he notes in his last book.  

Widely respected, Friedman, a rabbi turned consultant, makes clear that when attempting to engineer an organizational renaissance, those at the top have to muster the inner strength to overcome resistance and rejection, especially from those within who may have lost their will and way.

The gift of sleep

If energy is the fuel for self-control, how do we tank or power up?

Certainly, diet, exercise, and fresh air make a big difference. Experiencing new environments and including individuals of strong character in our circle of friends helps greatly. Continuous learning renews our minds. Don't forget the encouragement and support from families. 

Nevertheless, a good night's rest is the greatest daily power source for regaining emotional strength and self-control, which can positively influence one's temperament. After all, the wisdom of ruling our spirit is a time-honored instruction. 

Mayo Clinic recommends that adults sleep at least seven hours each night. However, the quality of sleep and routine matter more than the number of hours. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and deep sleep are required to improve cognitive function and memory, reduce stress, and boost the immune system. Sleep also has a physical healing quality.

Sleep psychologist Dr. Michelle Drerup suggests that the bedroom temperature should be 60 to 67 degrees (15-19 C). "It should be cool, dark, and quiet to enhance sleep," she notes. 

Can you ever make up for lost sleep?

"We don't know," says Dr. David Gozal of the University of Chicago. "If a person goes without sleep for just one night and tries to replace that lost sleep—to repay that sleep debt in just a day or two, most likely they will be able to regain normal function. But getting extra sleep does not immediately restore all systems," Dr. Gozal quickly adds. 

Buffer days

The late Bob Buford, co-founder of Leadership Network with Fred Smith, liked introducing something he had been thinking about when opening the Network's conferences. One idea that sticks in my mind is inserting "buffer days" into busy schedules—perhaps one or two days to rest—for you and your colleagues, too.

Back-to-back meetings are sometimes a reality. Red-eye flights may be necessary, and overseas travel can cause jet lag. However, an intermittent buffer day can provide emotional strength, offsetting the physical and mental strain of demanding responsibilities.  

Author Alan Cohen sums it up this way: "There is virtue in work, and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither."

Sources: Self-control: A vital behavior for leaders everywhere, Sarah Mangia, The Ohio State University, September 15, 2020; Leadership Takes Self-Control. Here's What We Know About It, Kai Chi Yam, Hulwen Lian, D. Lance Ferris, and Douglas Brown, Harvard Business Review, June 5, 2017; Sleep Deprived People Are More Likely to Cheat, Christopher M. Barnes, Harvard Business Review, May 31, 2013; The Skill that Matters Most, Tony Schwartz, Harvard Business Review, September 13, 2011; A Neglected But Essential Leadership Trait--Why Self-Control Really Matters, Prudy Gouirguecheon, Forbes, April 3, 2018. 

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