Forget about the widow's mite. We have serious problems with the church's share. In essence, all charitable giving to churches has been taking a nose dive since 1968, and it appears members are reluctant to change their ways.

Empty Tomb, an organization that charts the financial challenges of religions in the United States, breaks church giving into two categories.

The first is congregational finances, which includes the expenses, salaries and programs related to local congregations. The second is benevolences, a category that reflects the church's giving to national and international mission efforts.

The problem in both cases is that giving to U.S. churches has not increased as sharply as our personal finances have. In other words, since 1968, your salary has increased a heck of a lot, but you're giving a smaller percentage to the church.

In 1968, the portion of income given to the church was 3.11 percent. In 1995, the portion of income was 2.46 percent, a 21 percent drop.

When you think back on the past 30 years, it's easy to see what you have done with your income.

You're spending more on yourself and less on others. You've taken on bigger responsibilities, increased your vacation expectations and you're probably wearing nicer clothes and driving a fancier automobile.

In other words, many of us have increased the amount of money we spend on just about everything but charity. That's reality, and religion across the nation is starting to feel the pinch.

This news comes at a very sobering time for religion. Government is calling on the nation's believers to assume added responsibility for the poor, for vulnerable children and the elderly. According to the American Association of Fund Raising Counsel, religion accounts for 55 percent of all individual giving in the United States. Yet, it is not nearly enough to do battle with the social issues that confront us.

According to Empty Tomb, we're more willing to give our money to the local congregation if our coins are going to stay at home. But, if that money is going to be sent to Somalia to feed the hungry, for example, we will give less.

Many clergy have already figured out this equation and are content to give less of the congregational treasury to national and international efforts.

However, the situation has now become serious. Empty Tomb says that by the middle of the 21st century, if current trends continue, there will be absolutely no money flowing in to support foreign missionaries, relief programs and medical emergencies. If that happens, think of the unsolved tragedy that would happen around the world.

In one sense, though, the local emphasis is a blessing, especially for families that struggle even in a robust economy. And there are many working families who spend wisely, have realistic goals and still fall behind month by month. Those are the people who receive help from churches, presumably because we understand their plight.

It may be a different story for people who live outside our narrow culture. When we don't understand the lifestyle of others, we may be suspicious and a bit stingy.

Fund-raisers and clergy have been exceedingly understanding of our reluctance to help people we don't understand.

That's why some congregations have withheld funds from their national denominations so members of the local church can become involved in domestic and foreign missions. That's one way understanding will be created.

But at the same time, those congregations that knock down walls and reach into the outer world are the churches that will prosper and grow in the 21st century. That is a fact supported by tons of research. The challenge then for all church leaders is to push the mission beyond the local community and discover the wide world of need firsthand.

For more information on stewardship trends in U.S. churches, write to Sylvia Ronsvalle, Empty Tomb Inc., 301 N. Fourth St., P.O. Box 2404, Champaign, Ill. 61825-2404. For a copy of the complete report, "The State of Church Giving Through 1995," call Ronsvalle at (217) 356-9519.

Clark D. Morphew