The Rev. Cindy Gregorson is calling for a ban on congregations’ charging for coffee and donuts on Sunday mornings.

If churches want to develop cheerful, generous givers, churchgoers need to see and experience God’s abundance, the director of ministries for the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church said on the conference’s website.

A gesture such as ceasing to nickel-and-dime churchgoers for refreshments can send a powerful message. And Gregorson is not alone in encouraging congregations to model hospitality as they seek to revive inactive members and reach out to a growing number of unaffiliated Americans.

The need to invest time, talent and treasure to ensure healthy churches may be even more important in a recession, when financial setbacks can accelerate a downward cycle, according to a developing body of research.

The Faith Communities Today 2010 study found that congregations that made it through recent years in good financial health were less likely to cut spending on mission or experience serious conflict that led to members leaving. Those congregations in which income declined, however, showed dramatically less worship attendance growth as well as diminished spiritual vitality and a smaller volunteer base, the report said.

Spending limited resources on programming to recruit new members and revive inactive members, however, can be a hard sell, particularly in difficult economic times. The core group of people increasingly hard-pressed to foot the bills may be difficult to persuade to give more for a population that -- at least initially -- donates little or nothing in return.

But, in addition to modeling Christian hospitality, the costly and seemingly risky investment in newcomers paves the way for some of them to become major contributors in the future, scholars say.

Overall, strong, growing churches fast-track new people into meaningful ministry roles, create additional small group experiences, such as prayer or study groups, and use multiple ministry methods and strategies “all the time,” according to the U.S. Congregational Life Survey.