The effect of life cycle and parishioner perceptions on average household giving in Catholic parishes

Despite the critical importance of financial and other temporal resources t o the vitality of religious congregations, little is known about the congre gation characteristics that are related to giving. Catholic giving to the p arish is related to household income and Mass attendance. In this paper; th e authors go beyond these findings and investigate other Catholic parish de terminants of average per household giving in the parishes of one diocese i n the U.S. This study employs a large sample (264 parishes incorporating su rvey responses by nearly 27,000 parishioners) to study religious giving and incorporates some parish characteristics and parishioner attitude variable s not included in previous studies. In addition to the expected findings th at parish average median household income and the average Sunday Mass atten dance were positively associated with average household giving, this study offers qualified support for the life-cycle explanation of low giving among younger households. Also, parishioners' perceptions of whether the parish is welcoming, has sufficient resources, helps others in need or has a worsh ip life that assists the respondent were found to be significant.