(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Churches have pivoted during the pandemic and say they’ve had to adapt to keep paying the bills and helping others.
Archdiocese of Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Bob Casey says donations to churches are "significantly" down — by about 25% from last year —likely because of COVID restrictions on the number of people who can gather in any one place.
"Our pastors and our staffs in the parishes have done a tremendous job with helping people to find ways to donate whether it be through online giving or, in some cases, yes, dropping off a donation,” he adds.
Father Matt Eyerman of St. Malachy/Precious Blood parish is one pastor dealing with the lower Sunday collections. There were 100 fewer people who were able to attend Christmas masses because of attendance restrictions, he noted.
Also, some attendees cannot afford to put money in the collection basket.
"Lots of our members are really struggling because they’re the ones who can’t work from home because they don’t have jobs that allow them to work from home,” he said.
People who have the ability to donate more have done so, he said. That has allowed the yearly contributions to remain around 75% of last year's total.
Bishop Casey does not believe the reduced donations at parishes will play a role in deciding which parishes may have to close or merge in the future.
"The good news for us and the Archdiocese of Chicago is that we’ve been kind of monitoring the life of our parishes for years now. It’s part of our Renew My Church effort,” he said.
Many churches have promoted online giving for the first time.
Father Eyerman says he was skeptical, at first.
“Online giving has worked, and as the bishop said, people drop by. Almost every day, there’s somebody throws something through the mail slot, a donation,” he said.
Both agree most people cannot wait to be able to safely attend mass in-person. But they’re also seeing that churches are able to reach people through online streaming.
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