74% of Americans? 2009 Giving to ?Church, Religious Organizations?

Champaign, IL (PRWEB) October 10, 2011

Americans gave 74% of their donations in 2009 to ?church, religious organizations,? according to an analysis of federal data in The State of Church Giving through 2009.

The new book is to be released on October 14, 2011.

The analysis in the new book published by empty tomb, inc. is based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) data for 2009.

Three other categories also received donations in the CE 2009. The category of ?charities and other organizations? received 21% of Americans? donations. Gifts to ?educational institutions? claimed another 3%, while ?gifts to non-Consumer Unit members of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds? represented 1% of donations.

The analysis found giving to religion was the largest category, in every age bracket, in every income bracket, and in every region of the country.

Regional Giving. The South has traditionally given the largest portion of income to charity, according to empty tomb?s analysis of 1987 through 2009 CE data. The South?s annual average for 1987 through 2009 is 1.7% of income.

In 2009, Americans in both the South and the West donated 1.8% of income. Those in the Midwest gave 1.7%. The Northeast traditionally has been in fourth place. It was again in 2009, with 1.0% of income donated to charity.

Church Member Giving Down in 2009. The new report also looks specifically at church member giving in 2009 for a set of denominations representing over 100,000 churches in the U.S.

The analysis found that per member giving declined in current dollars from 2008 to 2009. From 1968 to 2009, the first time church member giving declined in current dollars was in 2008.

?Giving to churches in 2009 may have been impacted by the recession,? the report?s authors said. ?It is also possible that these declines were part of a long-term trend during the 1968-2009 period, that saw a decline in giving to churches as a percent of income.?

Benevolences as a Percent of Income at Lowest Point. As evidence of the long-term decline in giving to churches, the authors point to the trend in giving as a percent of income to Benevolences, that is, spending beyond the local congregation. The amount given to Benevolences in 2009 was 0.34%, the lowest amount in the 1968-2009 period reviewed. The 2009 level was about half the 1968 Benevolences giving level of 0.66%. The category of Benevolences includes support for denominational programs as well as international and local missions.

Membership. The study also found that membership as a percent of U.S. population for a group of 36 Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church decreased between 1968 and 2009. The broad group of communions represented 45% of the U.S. population in 1968 and 36% in 2009. Even so, that membership totaled 110 million Americans in 2009.

Potential. The potential for church leaders to mobilize members to increase giving still exists. However, according to the report, church members are not likely to give more to maintenance church institutions. Leaders need to point to a ?vision? to engage Christians both inside and outside congregations. As a possible focus for increased giving, the authors point to, for example, the 16 nations that are not making progress in reducing the number of deaths in children under five years of age. An analysis of the religious makeup of these countries found that 10 of the 16 nations have a weighted average of 84% Christian.

Church Member Giving in Recession Years. The new report also considers church member giving in recession years. No pattern was found in a review of data for 1968 through 2009. In addition, a review of data for 11 denominations for the period 1921 through 1967 did not find that church member giving declined in recession years (apart from the Great Depression), although giving did decline in some non-recession years.

New Religious Construction. The State of Church Giving through 2009 also reviewed new religious construction data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Per capita spending in 2009 on new religious construction was down from 2008. When population and income were factored in, per capita spending as a percent of income in 2009, measuring 0.06%, was at the lowest level in the 1964-2009 period. In comparison, the figure in 1965 was 0.25% of per capita income spent on new religious construction.

For Author Comments or Details of the Findings. Contact Sylvia Ronsvalle, empty tomb, inc., research(at)emptytomb(dot)org or (217) 356-9519.

Book Available October 14, 2011. The new report, authored by John and Sylvia Ronsvalle and published by empty tomb, inc., is scheduled to be released on Friday, October 14, 2011. The full title is: The State of Church Giving through 2009: Jesus Christ, the Church in the U.S., & the 16 No-Progress-in-Child Deaths Nations, 10 Being 84% Christian. Copies are available through Internet booksellers, or directly from empty tomb at http://www.emptytomb.org/pubs.html.

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The First Annual Jelly Donut Awards Recap the Top 5 Translation Errors of 2009

New York, NY (PRWEB) December 21, 2009

Translation was a hot topic in 2009, but sometimes for the wrong reasons.

That?s why Accredited Language Services, a US-based translation company, announces the first annual Jelly Donut Awards ? recapping the top 5 real translation, interpreting and localization errors of the year.

The Jelly Donut Awards pay tribute to one of the most infamous translation errors in US history: John F. Kennedy?s pronouncement ?Ich bin ein Berliner.? Although Kennedy intended to express empathy for the citizens of Berlin, his German phrase actually translated to ?I am a jelly donut.?

From the highest levels of international politics to the ad campaigns of multinational corporations, 2009 saw some big translation errors ? all of which could have been prevented by professional, accurate translation services.

#5. Unexpected Gifts

When a South Korean government representative visited Russia, he commented on the beauty of the endangered Siberian tigers of Eastern Russia. ?Korea is very interested in Siberian tigers,? he told Vladimir Kirillov, head of Natural Resources Management.

But Kirillov heard a very different message. The Russian/Korean interpreter told him that South Korea was asking Kirillov to consider donating a tiger instead. Kirillov proposed the gift upon his return to Russia, and the tiger is now living in the wilds of South Korea - all because of a translation error!

#4. Game Over

Fans of the controversial ? and resoundingly popular ? game ?Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? might be confused by a translation error in the Japanese release.

In the American version, the Russian villain Vladimir Mararov organizes a massacre at a Russian airport. (Spoiler alert!) The player?s character, an undercover CIA agent, is instructed not to speak Russian, since Mararov intends to frame the Americans for the attack.

But in Japan, Mararov?s line, ?Remember, no Russian,? was translated as ?Kill ?em; they?re Russians.? The translation error did not properly set up Mararov?s plan to frame the Americans and left Japanese players confused as to why Mararov kills their CIA character and leaves his body and CIA identification at the scene of the crime.

#3. Look Before You Cross

Visitors to Wales should make sure to look both ways before they cross the street, thanks to a translation error in Cardiff. A temporary road sign this summer cautioned English-speaking pedestrians to ?look left? to avoid dangerous road hazards.

The problem? The sign was translated for Welsh readers as ?cerddwyr edrychwch i'r dde? ? ?pedestrians look right.? Luckily, no Welsh speakers were harmed in the making of this translation error.

#2. Microsoft Misjudgment

Microsoft?s error in a website for Polish businesses became national news this summer. Although the translation of the ad copy was accurate, the company?s localization experts altered the photo accompanying the ad to ?adapt? the graphic for Poland.

The original ad featured three racially diverse people sitting around a conference table, but the Polish ad replaced an African-American man's face with a Caucasian one. How did people catch on? The man?s hand hadn?t been changed.

#1. Translation Overload

During a foreign policy meeting between American and Russian leaders in March, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with a ?reset button,? representing the erasure of past tension between the two countries.

But the English word ?reset? had been translated to the Russian ?peregruzka? - meaning ?overcharged? or ?overloaded.? The photo op of the two politicians pressing the button lost its international significance - and instead became a global joke thanks to the translation error

Stay tuned for the winners of next years? awards ? but avoid becoming one of them. Professional, accurate translation services like those provided by Accredited Language Services can help anyone avoid next year?s big translation error.

About Accredited Language Services:

Accredited Language Services provided translation, transcription, interpreting, conference and multimedia services for more than 25 years. Fortune 500 companies, technology firms, advertising agencies, government offices, hospitals, banks, law firms and private individuals rely on the professional language solutions from ALS in 150+ languages and dialects.

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