The financial reserves of U.S. Protestant churches have improved slightly since 2016, according to a LifeWay Research report published March 21.

In 2016, 50% of the pastors who knew about their church’s cash reserve situation — 31% were unsure about their reserve funds — reported that their church had reserve funds to cover no more than 15 weeks of required expenses. By comparison, 27% had reserves to cover 16-51 weeks and 23% to cover 52 weeks or more.

By 2022, the numbers had changed to 44%, 32% and 24%, respectively.

Half of predominantly Black (52%) and one-third of predominantly Hispanic (35%) congregations had reserve funds to cover eight weeks or less of required expenses, compared to 17% of predominantly white churches.

“When hardships impact an organization, financial leaders carefully watch how much cash is on hand and how quickly they are spending it,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “While improved, there are still too many churches with too little money in the bank given the uncertainties of 2023.”

The full report is available here.