In recent months, First Baptist Church downtown has slashed its youth ministry and missionary budgets, and relegated some full-time staffers to part-timers.

“We are definitely tightening our belts,” the Rev. Clint Walker said. “I don’t know very many churches that aren’t struggling with budgets.”

The reason? Operating costs have been increasing while giving has dropped off.

That double whammy is hitting churches, synagogues and mosques nationwide.

Consider just a few markers: The Barna Group, a firm that measures religious cultural trends, found in its most recent survey that the number of congregants tithing, or giving 10 percent of one’s income to a church, had dropped from 8 percent in 2001 to 3 percent in 2002. The tithing slide has continued, many church leaders say.

And Maximum Generosity, a ministry that encourages parishes to give, reported that in 2007 one-third of congregants gave nothing, while another third gave less than $500.

“That means that in the average church, 70 to 80 percent have not yet come to understand the important role giving and generosity play in their spiritual life,” said the Rev. Brian Kluth, founder of the Colorado Springs organization and author of “40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life.”

Experts say there are several reasons for the decline in donations:

- Young people don’t give as regularly as their parents might have, and many people of all ages are giving to charities rather than to religious organizations.

A case in point is Larry Nelson of Manitou Springs, who said he’s uncomfortable tithing to his Seventh-day Adventist church.

“I prefer to individually help people through charities,” Nelson, 57, said.

- Families are more mobile, so they don’t establish close ties with a place of worship.

St. Paul’s Lutheran in Calhan, a speck of a town 30 miles northeast of Colorado Springs, recently lost several young families to nearby bigger cities, the Rev. Willard Rinnert said.

- A flagging economy, coupled with rising health care costs, makes it harder for people to pay their bills, let alone donate to a religious institution.

Gary and Cherry Sprott, who live in Colorado Springs, used to tithe to their church when they lived in Grand Junction. Then she lost her job, and they lost their 3,500-squarefoot home. The tithing stopped as their financial problems mounted.

- Some worshippers are turned off by stewardship preaching, which can range from subtle guilt trips to espousing the material rewards that await a cheerful giver.

It’s definitely been the case for 23-year-old Hector Cruz of Colorado Springs. He’s been church shopping for several months but is put off by worship centers’ theology and how, he said, stewardship is wasted on opulence, especially in the megachurches.

“If your church is going to have a bigscreen TV, what is the point?” Cruz said.

The backlash against stewardship, and especially tithing, has been festering, religious leaders say, as churches fail to convey the message of self-sacrifice that underlies the ancient practice.

Randy Popineau, pastor of the Church at Briargate, chooses not to talk of giving or tithing during services.

“I do not set financial goals for the church,” Popineau said. “There is no arm-twisting. I am a firm believer that people should not give out of compulsion.”

The approach seems to be working. Popineau said that last year’s budget increased 11 percent from the previous year to $633,000, perhaps in part, he said, from teaching stewardship as aligning one’s priorities by putting God before money.

“I teach our congregation that if they will remain faithful to the Lord, their money will go further,” Popineau said, “and I believe my money goes further when I am giving generously to the kingdom.”

Still, tithing, which has its roots in the Old Testament, remains the template of Christian stewardship.

“Tithing is a great leap of faith,” said Paul Forbes, administrator of McKenna Stewardship, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that encourages parish tithing. “The root of tithing is surrender, a way of setting your priorities straight.”

But the message can fall on deaf ears. The Calhan Lutheran church, which averages 60 people each week, scratches by on a shoestring budget of less than $150,000. Only 33 percent of the parish members give regularly, Rinnert said.

“One-third are workers, one-third are shirkers and one-third are jerkers,” he said.

A number of mosques and synagogues also face budgetary challenges, even when the faithful keep giving.

Muslims give a yearly zakat of 2.5 percent of their wealth beyond ordinary living expenses. “I give because I see the need,” said Mohamed Egal, making a donation after Friday Prayers at the Islamic Society of Colorado Springs. “No matter how little you have, you have to give something.”

This year, the Islamic Society has seen its monthly operating budget jump from $1,500 to $3,500. Arshad Yousufi, the local Muslim spokesman, wonders whether donations can keep pace — especially because the mosque has lost members who found jobs out of state.

Synagogues, supported mainly by Jewish families paying an annual fee, have suffered because of the poor economy, fewer practicing Jews, and Jews giving to charities rather than to temples, said Rabbi Mel Glazer of Temple Shalom in Colorado Springs.

“If no Jew gave a dime to the Red Cross or to the symphony or to the art museum, it wouldn’t matter because the non-Jewish community would support it,” Glazer said. “But if Jews don’t give to their own institution, synagogues will close up.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0367 or mark.barna@gazette.com. Barna is not associated with The Barna Group.