It is a Sunday morning and the parking lot at the All Saint’s Cathedral in Nairobi is full, even before the morning service starts. While the number of the faithful — and the amount of tithe — has not dropped, the impact of the financial crisis is slowly eating away at the church’s other projects.
The All Saints is not alone. Worldwide, the House of God has suffered the multiple effects of global financial paralysis, with some churches registering low tithe contributions.
“This is not because Christians are mean, but because they are also feeling effects of the crisis,” states Fr Moses Kago, the assistant administrator at the Holy Family Basilica.
On a good Sunday, All Saints collects tithes and offering of about Sh1 million, according to official records, up from Sh600,000 about a year ago. But the amount of pledges for development projects has dropped.
Appears grim
Although the situation appears grim, church ministers are hopeful of a recovery. “God is the ultimate provider in all situations,” states Fr Kago.
But to survive the slowdown, churches have also adopted some cost-cutting measures. At Nairobi’s Holy Family Basilica, the Catholic citadel has had to review its budget by reducing expenses that it can do without.
The first to wither were flowers and decorations used during church events. The church was also forced to send home four of its 21 workers. Of these, two were asked to take an early retirement.
Churches, mosques and other religious groupings worldwide depend on the goodwill of their congregations and sponsor institutions to run their activities.
But with the current global financial crisis, and the uncertainty that comes with it, they have resorted to revising their priorities as proceeds decrease.
John Cardinal Njue says that they have received orders from the Vatican to teach their members to be self-sufficient in the running of church activities.
It also announced that annual donations from churches worldwide, known as Peter’s Pence, were down to almost $75.8 million from $79.8 million in 2007.
With lay-offs and the labour market squeezed, the congregation has also been affected and has thus decreased its financial contribution to the church and instead turned to volunteering for church events.
Congregations are having a tough time being consistent in their offerings and tithing as most of them live on shoe-string budgets.
Ms Ann Michuki attends church often and says that although the amount she gives as an offering hasn’t changed much, tithing has become painful since it accounts for 10 per cent of her salary.
Mr Moses Nderitu has also been facing a similar dilemma. “I haven’t been consistent but I give what I can. It is hard to give consistently when the cost of living is ever rising,” he says.
Bishop Mark Kariuki of Deliverance Church’s House of Bread in Nairobi’s central business district admits that times have changed.
He says that it is a time for the faithful to move closer to God, adding that during great famines and hard economic times such as this, “planting a seed” will increase the harvest.
The “seed” here symbolises making a concrete move, by for example pledging some amount of money to church activities or choosing to fast, to help resolve a crisis.
“We have had people coming in for prayers after losing their jobs and parents asking for school fees and food for their children. We can’t support all of them as our figures (finances) have gone down by about 26 per cent,” he says.
Churches have found out that sponsorship from abroad are not enough to run their projects. Some of the sponsors are also reeling from the impact of the global financial crisis.
In July, Dr Phillip Aspinall, the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, told his flock that the diocese was suffering from a financial crisis. “All is not rosy on the financial front,” Dr Aspinall was quoted as telling the 76th synod of the Diocese of Brisbane.
Locally, some church projects have been put on hold. The All Saints Cathedral, the head diocese of the Anglican Church of Kenya, has over the years been sponsoring various projects in its subsidiaries countrywide.
But the church is now strained in contributing to these projects, which include paying school fees and hospital bills.
Churches usually ask for congregations to donate at least 10 per cent of their income as tithes to go towards project work and sustenance of priests. Some churches have also invested in money-making ventures, with the Holy Family Basilica now charging a fee for the parking lot at the church.
Shelve projects
With the faithful’s contributions to church activities declining by as much as 30 to 40 per cent, most churches have been forced to shelve projects.
The All Saints, arguably one of the richest churches in Kenya, has put on hold the building of a house for the Vicar until the church’s finances improve.
Last Sunday at the Deliverance Church’s House of Bread, as worshippers gathered in the sanctuary for the days’ sermon all the faces seemed to yearn for encouragement.
The message was from Genesis 26, on a big famine in the land of Gerar and Isaac wanting to leave the land for greener pastures. But God stopped him and told him to sow a seed in the land. He did and had a great harvest.
In these hard times the faithful are at a loss when it comes to giving unto Ceasear what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.
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