The survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors asked respondents, "How is the economy impacting your church?" Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) responded negatively, with 56 percent indicating somewhat negatively and 8 percent very negatively. One-fourth of the pastors surveyed chose, "The economy has had no impact on my church," while 9 percent indicated a positive impact on their churches.

"Pastor views on the economy are similar to many economic outlook surveys," said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research. "We weren't surprised the current perspective of economic impact on churches is predominantly negative." ...