Log on
Apply | Contact Us | Give a Gift | VU Home | Site Index | Text only
Faculty Scholarship

Church Management Research by Charles Zech

Books

  • The Parish Management Handbook: A Practical Guide for Pastors, Administrators and Other Parish Leaders, Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2003.
  • Lay Ministers and Their Spiritual Practices, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Press, 2003 (Co-Authors James D. Davidson, Thomas P. Walters, Bede Cisco, OSB, and Katherine Meyer).
  • Why Catholics Don’t Give…And What Can Be Done About It, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Press, 2000.
  • Plain Talk About Churches and Money, Washington, D.C.: The Alban Institute, 1997 (Co-Authors Dean Hoge and Patrick McNamara).
  • Money Matters: Personal Giving in American Churches, Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996 (Co-Authors Dean Hoge, Patrick McNamara, and Michael Donahue).
    Honorable Mention Award, 1997 Staley/Robeson/Ryan/St. Lawrence Research Prize Competition sponsored by the National Society of Fund Raising Executives
  • The Mainline Church's Funding Crisis: Issues and Possibilities, Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995 (Co-Author Ronald E. Vallet).

Referred Publications

  • "The Agency Relationship In Churches: An Empirical Analysis”, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Forthcoming. Options for Restructuring U.S. Catholic Parishes”, Church, Vol. 20 No. 3 (Fall 2004), pp. 50-51 (co-author Mary L. Gautier).
  • "Catholic Parish Organizational Structure and Parish Outcomes”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 43 No. 1 (March, 2004), pp. 141-50 (co-author Mary L. Gautier).
  • "Understanding Denominational Structures: Churches as Franchise Organizations”, International Journal of the Economics of Business, Vol. 10, No. 3 (November 2003), pp. 323-335.
  • "Choices of Organizational Structures in Religious Organizations: A Game-Theoretic Approach”, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 47, No. 1 (January 2002), pp. 55-70(Co-author Wen Mao).
  • "The Impact of Stewardship Programs on Religious Giving: An Empirical Analysis of Catholic Parishes”, Journal of Ministry Marketing and Management, Vol. 7 No. 1 (2001), pp. 43-60 (Co-authors Robert Miller and Robert Parfet).
  • "An Agency Analysis of Church-Pastor Relations”, Managerial and Decision Economics, Vol. 22 (September 2001) pp. 327-332.
  • "The Effect of Life Cycle and Parishioner Perceptions on Average Household Giving in Catholic Parishes”, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 42 No.3 (March 2001), pp. 313-331. (Co-authors Robert Miller and Robert Parfet).
  • "Generational Differences in the Determinants of Religious Giving", Review of Religious Research, Vol. 41 No.4 (June 2000), pp.545-59.
  • "A Household Production Analysis of Religious and Charitable Activity”, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 58(4) October 1999, pp. 923-46 (Co-author Suzanne H. Clain).
  • "Ancient Futures: Papal and Buddhist Economics”, International Journal of Social Economics, 26(10/11), 1999, pp. 1344-53 (Co-author Glen Alexandrin).
  • "American Catholic Higher Education: An ACCU Study on Mission and Identity, Faculty Development, and Curricular Revision", Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education, Vol. 19 No. 1, (Fall 1998), pp. 3-32. (Co-author Judith A. Dwyer).
  • "The Value of Volunteers as Resources for Congregations", Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 37(3) September 1998, pp. 470-80. (Co-authors Dean R. Hoge and Patrick McNamara).
  • "John Paul II's Vision of the Social Economy From an Urban Perspective", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 25, No. 11/12, 1998, pp. 1755-1763.
  • "How Americans Financially Support Their Churches: Empirical Research on Giving", Sociologia, Vol. 29 (No. 5), 1997, pp. 579-96 (Co-authors Dean Hoge, Patrick McNamara, and Michael Donahue).
  • "Efficiency in Religious Organizations", Nonprofit Management & Leadership, Vol. 8 (No. 1) September, 1997, pp.3-18 (Co-author Peter A. Zaleski).
  • "Group Size and the Free-Rider Hypothesis: A Re-Examination of Old Evidence from Churches", Public Choice, Vol. 88, 1996, pp. 407-11. (Co-author Peter A. Zaleski).
  • "ACCU Survey of Catholic Schools and Universities: Report on Faculty Development and Curriculum", Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education, Vol. 16 (No. 2), Winter 1996. (Co-Author Judith A. Dwyer).
  • "Religious Giving in Five Denominations: Descriptions, Patterns, and Causes", Journal of Stewardship, 1996, pp. 3-13. (Co-Authors Dean R. Hoge, Patrick McNamara, and Michael J. Donahue.
  • "The Effects of Religious Market Competition on Church Giving," Review of Social Economy, Vol. 53 (No. 3) Fall 1995, pp. 350-67 (Co-author Peter A. Zaleski)
  • "The Optimal Size of A Religious Congregation: An Economic Theory of Clubs Analysis", American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 54 (No. 4), October 1995, pp. 439-453 (Co-author Peter A. Zaleski).
  • "The Effectiveness of Various Solicitation Methods in Raising Member Contributions," The Journal of Ministry Management and Marketing, Vol. 1 (No. 1), 1995, pp. 97-104. (Co-author Peter A. Zaleski).
  • "Determinants of Religious Giving in Urban and Rural Presbyterian Congregations", Review of Religious Research, Vol. 36 (No. 2) December 1994, pp. 197-206 (Co-authors Peter A. Zaleski and Dean R. Hoge).
  • "Economic and Attitudinal Factors in Religious Giving", Review of Religious Research, Vol. 36 (No. 2) December 1994, pp. 158-167 (Co-author Peter A. Zaleski).
  • "An Empirical Analysis of Options for Dealing with the U.S. Catholic Priest Shortage," Review of Religious Research, Vol. 35 (No. 3) (March 1994), pp. 238-250.
  • "The Catholic Church, Resource Allocation, and the Priest Shortage", Review of Social Economy, Vol. 50 (No. 3) (Fall 1992), pp. 297-304.
  • "Determinants of Contributions to Religious Organizations, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 51 (October 1992), pp. 459-72. (Co-author Peter A. Zaleski.)

Book Chapters

  • "Developing Stewards in a Parish Setting”, in Charles E. Zech, (ed.), The Parish Management Handbook: A Practical Guide for Pastors, Administrators, and Other Parish Leaders, Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2003, pp.154-172.
  • "Public Religion and Higher Education: The Role of the Faculty in Maintaining the Catholic Identity of Catholic Schools and Universities”, in Edith L. Blumhofer (ed.), Religion, Education, and the American Experience: Reflections on Religion and American Public Life, University of Alabama Press, 2002, pp. 128-51.
  • "Giving in Five Denominations", in Mark Chaves and Sharon L. Miller (eds.), Financing American Religion, Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 1999, pp. 3-10 (Co-authors Dean R. Hoge, Patrick McNamara, and Michael J. Donahue).
  • "Patterns of Giving Among United Methodists: Member Contributions to the Local Church", in Lawrence, William B., Dennis M. Campbell, and Russell E. Richey (eds.), The People(s) Called Methodist: Forms and Reforms of Their Life, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998, pp. 87-105.
  • "Determinants of the Mission Funding Crisis", in Richey, Russell E., Dennis M. Campbell, and William B. Lawrence (eds.), Connectionalism: Ecclesiology, Mission, and Identity, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997, pp. 245-264.
  • "Four Economic Models of Organization Applied to Religious Congregations" in Demerath, N.J., Peter D. Hall, Terry N. Schmitt, and Rhys H. Williams, (eds.), Sacred Companies: Organizational Aspects of Religion and Religious Aspects of Organization, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 256-268.

Other Publications

  • "The Problem of the 'Second Collection'", America, November 15, 2001, pp. 8-11.
  • The Faculty and Catholic Institutional Identity”, America, May 22, 1999, pp. 11-15.
  • "Review of What Does the Lord Require? How Americans Think About Economic Justice”, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 39 No. 3 (March 1998), pp. 274-76.
  • "Lagging Stewards", America, Vol. 175, No. 6 (September 14, 1996), pp.9-14. (Co-author Patrick McNamara).
  • "Who Gives to the Church and Why?", The Christian Century, Vol. 113, No. 35 (December 4, 1996), pp. 1194-1199 (Co-authors Dean R. Hoge, Patrick H. McNamara, and Michael J. Donahue).
  • "Lagging Stewards, Part Two: Catholics as Church Volunteers", America, February 8, 1997, pp. 21-25. (Co-authors Dean R. Hoge and Patrick McNamara).