Is the Recession Ending for Churches?

I'm always glad to be able to pass along a bit of hopeful news. This is from CNN.com:

"The worst of the recession may be over for some of America’s churches, a survey released Wednesday on religions donations indicated.

According to the survey, called State of the Plate, 43% of churches saw a rise in contributions in 2010, compared to 36% that saw an increase the year before.

Meanwhile, 39% of churches saw their giving dip last year, down from 47% that reported declines in 2009....

Churches responding to the survey represent evangelical (24%), Baptist (23%), Independent/Non-denominational (21%), mainline Protestant (13%), Charismatic/Pentecostal (12%), Catholic/Orthodox (2%) and other Christian traditions (5%)."

- Dan Gilgoff, "Recession's effects fading for some churches," CNN.com, March 30, 2011.

Let's hope this is a real trend!