The penitential season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, and runs until Easter. The season is traditionally viewed as a time of personal spiritual reflection for Christians. In recent years that lens has broadened to include a focus on helping others. Is that outward charity affected by the widespread economic pain of the recession?

Self-sacrifice is a teaching that is central to most religious traditions, and it is underscored in annual observances such as Lent, the High Holy Days and Ramadan.

As people of faith look for ways to honor their religious traditions and stick to their budgets amid the economic downturn, there are opportunities to explore anew the spiritual power and human reality of sacrificing for others. Some religious institutions are asking top-tier employees to make sacrifices to spare those serving under them. Moreover, research conducted in 145 nations by the Gallup Poll shows that those who attended religious services of any kind in the previous week have higher rates of generosity than those who did not. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data in February showing that volunteering is on the rise and that religious organizations are the single-largest venue for volunteer activity.

But the reality of the recession also intrudes. Current research shows that nearly one-third of congregations have seen a drop in giving, and at least 20 percent of U.S. households have reduced their charitable giving. So what is the proper relationship between spending and giving? What is the proper way to think of the concept of sacrifice? And how does it vary across religious traditions?

This edition of ReligionLink provides experts and resources for reporters covering the topic of sacrifice in a time of economic suffering.

Why it matters

Charitable giving is a key component of the social safety net in the United States, and religious giving and volunteering are crucial to charity. Is the belief in giving — to loved ones as well as to those less fortunate — going to overcome doubts and anxieties about money?

Background on Lent

• Read “Ashes to Ashes,” an essay from ChristianHistory.net on how the early tradition of pre-Lenten repentance developed into our modern practice of Ash Wednesday.
• ChristianHistory also has a five-question quiz on liturgical and culinary traditions surrounding Lent, including: “In the Middle Ages, which of the following counted as ‘fish’ (and therefore could be eaten) during Lent?”
• Pope Benedict XVI focused on the the theme of justice in his Lenten message for 2010. Read the text of the message at the Vatican’s Web site, and a Feb. 4, 2010, story on the pope’s message, “Conversion breaks bonds of selfishness,” from Catholic News Service.
• A Feb. 12, 2010, broadcast by Religion & Ethics Newsweekly has a reflection on Lent by Pastor Steve Buechler of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Gaithersburg, Md.
• A February 2010 feature from Christianity Today, “Lent: Why Bother?” features essays by three writers: Steven R. Harmon, a Baptist pastor and associate professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Ala., writes about why Baptists can observe Lent; author Frederica Mathewes-Green, who is founder with her husband of Baltimore’s Holy Cross Orthodox Church, writes that Lent is like a spiritual exercise akin to an athlete training for competition; and Michael Horton, an author and professor of theology at Westminster Seminary in California, writes that Lent is above all a spiritual pilgrimage.

Resources on giving

• See a report on the Bureau of Labor Statistics data on volunteering in 2009, released on Feb. 5, 2010. Volunteering edged up from September 2008 to September 2009, from 26.4 percent of the population to 26.8 percent. A plurality of those who volunteered, 34 percent, did so at religious organizations.
• Read an article, “2010: Daunting Challenges Face the Nonprofit World,” in the Dec. 10, 2009, issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
• Read an excerpt posted Dec. 9, 2009, by Christianity Today from a new book by Douglas LeBlanc called Tithing: Test Me in This. The excerpt is about John and Sylvia Ronsvalle of empty tomb inc.
• Read a Dec. 9, 2009, column in The Forward, “Coming Up Short on the Tzedakah Yardstick,” by Rabbi Jill Jacobs, about boosting giving in a time of difficulty.
• Read a Nov. 29, 2009, article in The Boston Globe, “Better to Give Nothing,” about the economics of gift-giving. The article is by Joel Waldfogel, the Ehrenkranz Professor of Business and Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and author of Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays.
• Read a Nov. 28, 2009, article from the news service of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about a study of the sacrifices youth make in the name of religious beliefs.
• Read a Nov. 15, 2009, Associated Press article (posted by msnbc.com), “U.S. charities may not have a happy holiday.”
• Read a Nov. 10, 2009, ReligionLink edition, “Nonprofits cope with recession.”
• Read an Oct. 13, 2009, article about a USA Today/Gallup Poll that showed more Americans volunteered this year than last at religious organizations, and about the same percentage as the year before contributed money.
• The Giving USA Foundation reported in June that charitable giving in the United States dropped 2 percent in 2008 from the previous year — the first decline since 1987 and only the second decline since Giving USA began publishing its annual report in 1956. Read a news release (pdf file).
• Read a January 2009 article in the Christian Examiner about the economy’s effect on church giving.
• See a Feb. 25, 2008, ReligionLink edition on story ideas for Lent that includes resources on “virtual” spiritual journeys and the growing calls for a “carbon fast” for Lent.

National sources

• Melissa Brown is associate director of research at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University in Indianapolis. She has said that when the economy goes bad, people still give to their church or religious group. Contact 317-278-8964, msbrown@iupui.edu.
• David C. Dollahite is a professor of family life at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is a co-author of “Giving Up Something Good for Something Better,” a study of the sacrifices youth make in the name of religious beliefs. The article ran in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Research. Contact 801-422-4179, david_dollahite@byu.edu.
• Ali Eastburn is the founder of With This Ring, a Christian organization that asks people to give up their wedding rings to buy clean water for villages in underdeveloped nations. Contact ali@withthisring.org.
• Mandi Ehman is a mother and homemaker and the author of the blog Organizing Your Way. In December 2010 she wrote a post about making Christmas simple that included a discussion of teaching children the power of sacrificing for others. Contact organizingyourway@gmail.com.
• William Enright is director of the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving at Indiana University. He can discuss the center’s report on religious giving and the recession. Contact press contact Adriene Davis, 317-278-8972, adridavi@iupui.edu.
• Greg Holder, Rick McKinley and Chris Seay are co-founders of the Advent Conspiracy, a group that provides materials to churches to help them focus on spending less on gifts and giving more away to charity. Contact info@adventconspiracy.org.
• Dan Hotchkiss is a senior consultant with the Alban Institute. In July 2009, he wrote an article for Church Executive magazine about how churches are making do with less from donors in the current economy. Contact via Alban, 703-964-2700.
• Jason Lewis is a senior consultant with The Frank Group and founder of The Generous Life, a Christian ministry. He has written about the future of the church in the new financial reality. Contact jasonlewis@thefrankgroup.us.
• Kristen Monroe is a professor of philosophy and political science at the University of California, Irvine, and director of its Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality. She is the author of The Heart of Altruism: Perceptions of a Common Humanity. Contact 949-824-3344, krmonroe@uci.edu.
• John L. Ronsvalle and Sylvia Ronsvalle founded empty tomb inc., a nonprofit that tracks religious giving in the United States. Contact 217-356-9519, research@emptytomb.org.
• Ronald Sider is a professor of theology at Eastern University in Wynnewood, Pa. His 1997 book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, prompted many Christian congregations and individuals to re-examine their commitment to the poor. He is also the author of Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America (2007). Contact 484-384-2974, rsider@eastern.edu.
• Christian Smith is a sociology professor and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at Notre Dame University in Notre Dame, Ind. He has written widely on religious giving and is co-author of Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money (2008). Contact 574-631-4531, chris.smith@nd.edu.

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

• Pamela Wesley Gomez is director of development and external church affairs at the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. She participated in an Alban Institute webinar on the subject of church stewardship in lean times. Contact 203-432-9297, pamela.wesley@yale.edu.
• Paul G. Schervish is a sociology professor and director of the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College. Contact 617-552-4070, paul.schervish@bc.edu.

IN THE EAST

• Bruce Chilton is executive director of the Institute for Advanced Theology at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. He is an expert on altruism and Christianity. Contact 845-758-7335, chilton@bard.edu.
• Boyce Watkins is an assistant professor of finance at Syracuse University. He writes frequently about money issues and the African-American community and recently wrote a blog entry about the power of giving back during the holidays. Contact 315-443-3486, bowatkin@syr.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

• Branson Sheets is the lead pastor of Covenant Church of Winterville, N.C. For part of his holiday season sermons, he collected stories of sacrifice from his congregation. Contact 252-355-0123 ext. 478, bransons@connect2covenant.com.
• Edith Turner is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She participated in a 2006 roundtable discussion for Zygon magazine on the subject of altruism and spiritually merging with another’s suffering. Contact 434-924-3536 or 434-924-7044 (department), elt9w@virginia.edu

IN THE SOUTH

• Peggy Drinkard is director of children’s ministries at Riverwood Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala. She wrote a post on the church’s blog about the spiritual power of radical giving. Contact 205-758-8706.
• David Platt is a pastor at the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala. A videotape of a sermon he gave on the power of radical giving to benefit the poor is making the rounds among evangelical churches.  Contact 205-313-7720, dplatt@brookhills.org.
• Ben Witherington III is a well-known Bible scholar and professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. His book Jesus and Money: A Guide for Times of Financial Crisis came out in January 2010. The book is described as an examination, in the wake of the recession, of “what Jesus has to say (and doesn’t say) concerning wealth and poverty, money and spending, debt and sacrificial giving.” Contact benw333@hotmail.com or through the seminary’s main number, 859-858-3581.

IN THE MIDWEST

• Brent Johnston is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Neb. Last July, he gave a sermon (pdf file) on the value of making do with less. Contact 402-477-6037, johnston1st@hotmail.com.
• Michael R. Maude is president of Partners in Philanthropy in Lawrence, Kan. He has written an essay about sacrifice and giving. Contact 785-865-3850, mmaude@develop-net.com.
• John McKinstry is pastor of First Christian Church in Coralville, Iowa. In December 2008, he noted an increase in his congregation’s generosity and described the giving as “more sacrificial.” Contact 319-337-4181.
• Mark Allan Powell is a professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, and the author of Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News About Living a Generous Life. Contact 614-235-4679.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

• Howard Bahr is a sociology professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and was a co-author of “Giving Up Something Good for Something Better,” a study of the sacrifices made by religious young people. Contact 801-422-6275, howard_bahr@byu.edu.
• Michael Durall is principal of the CommonWealth Consulting Group in Boulder, Colo. He is the author of Creating Congregations of Generous People. Contact 303-442-3114, mdurrall@earthlink.net.
• Michael Emerson is a sociology professor at Rice University in Houston. He is co-author of Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money (2008). Contact 713-348-4448, moe@rice.edu.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

• Michael McBride is an associate professor of economics at the University of California, Irvine. He specializes in religion and the economy and writes the blog The Religious Marketplace. Contact 949-824-7417, mcbride@uci.edu.
• Tim White is senior pastor at Washington Cathedral in Redmond, Wash.  Last Christmas, he and his wife gave all their Christmas savings to a couple in danger of losing their home. Contact 425-869-5433, tim.white@wacathedral.org.

This updates an edition from Dec. 15, 2009.