For evangelicals, bad times are good?

Some "folk wisdom" of evangelical protestantism has it that "bad times are good for evangelical churches,"according to the New York Times.

According to one study, evangelical churches in recession years have grown nearly 50% faster than during more stable economic times. Church attendance among unemployed evangelical congregation members is also higher than that of their employed neighbors by about 10%, according to the same survey. The same is not true of mainline Protestant churches, which have seen steady decline regardless of economic conditions, and have roughly 10% higher attendance among employed church members.

This is certainly an interesting finding, and the article offers a few possibilities for explanation of the phenomenon. One natural assumption is that people in tough times are seeking community and guidance, and this is certainly true: according to one pastor, prayers for job security are among the most common. Others mark it down to simple convenience, claiming that people who are not working have more time to spend doing church-based activities. Some also come to evangelical churches hoping for a more "personal" experience, saying that the traditional outlook of other mainline churches didn't address their growing economic concerns.

Some churches are hoping to capitalize on this by promoting a new "Great Awakening" among the growing evangelical numbers, but I wonder if something more productive can be done. The article says that a few churches are beginning to offer financial management classes, which is a step in the right direction, but surely some of these churches, even with their diminishing collections, are still sitting on pretty hefty budgets. Perhaps community outreach and aid programs could be launched to assist those recently laid-off, or perhaps budgets could be trimmed here and there of unnecessary expenses and rather spent on alms or assistance for the unemployed? Or, perhaps churches could attempt to run some public works projects of their own and directly create jobs (though perhaps this may be a bit far-fetched)?

In any case, churches should indeed capitalize on this trend -- to help their communities, not themselves.