Why This Webinar? Why Now?
For the first time in four decades, church attendance is rising. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research’s 2025 study of 7,453 congregations found that median in-person attendance climbed to 70 adults—above pre-pandemic levels—for the first time in 25 years of tracking. Scott Thumma, the Institute’s director, said his team checked the data twice because they didn’t believe it.
That’s genuinely good news. But it arrives alongside a cost structure that has fundamentally changed, community service demand that is surging, and a giving-per-capita trend that hasn’t kept pace with headcount. Churches that don’t model for this gap, and don’t understand how a lender reads it, are exposed in ways they may not yet see.
“A full parking lot and a funded budget are not the same thing. The lag between attendance growth and giving growth is real, predictable, and manageable, if you plan for it.”
This will be a 45-minute webinar with Jeremy Moore, of BMO Religious Institution Banking, the nation’s largest financial institution with a dedicated team serving faith-based non-profits.
