Income levels across more than 100 evangelical mission agencies in the UK dropped in the year to 2020 by £13 million – with the smallest missions hardest hit, a snapshot report has revealed. But missions which are more overtly involved in proclaiming the Christian message did not see a drop in income.
Eddie Arthur, a specialist in mission agency theology, reported that 105 mission agencies suffered an overall fall in income of 4.6%. Between 2018 and 2020 it declined by around 6% and it was not expected to have recovered in 2021. He said it was too early to judge the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their incomes.
The largest missions saw an increase in income but small agencies suffered a 20% drop since 2015. He also revealed that just 63 agencies said they were involved in any form of proclamation of the Christian message – with the numbers much lower for those who seek to reach out to unbelievers. No agency with an income of more than £10 million had an overt commitment to taking the gospel to unreached places.
Arthur, who blogs about mission agency work at kouya.net, said: ‘It is interesting to note that 68 of the 105 agencies tracked in this study, recorded a 2020 income of less than £1 million, while only five agencies had an income of more than £10 million.’
‘In general, the larger agencies have done well at the expense of the smaller ones,’ he said.
The financial information was taken from mission agency reports made to the Charity Commission. The sample agencies were all members of Global Connections and include A Rocha International, Asia Link, Bethany Children’s Trust, Christian Witness to Israel, Tearfund and Wycliffe Bible Translators.
