Skip to content

Barrhead churches contribute more than $2 million in economic activity

As a member of the Barrhead United Church and a frequent volunteer of many of its community events Coun. Leslie Penny knew that churches have a profound impact on the communities, which they serve.
Coun. Leslie Penny talks about how much Barrhead area churches contribute to the financial health of the economy through the HALO effect.
Coun. Leslie Penny talks about how much Barrhead area churches contribute to the financial health of the economy through the HALO effect.

As a member of the Barrhead United Church and a frequent volunteer of many of its community events Coun. Leslie Penny knew that churches have a profound impact on the communities, which they serve.

However, Penny did not realize just how much of an economic impact they had until she read the latest issue of Municipal World magazine, which had an article about the HALO Project.

Municipal World is a Canadian magazine that publishes articles of interest for people involved in municipal government.

“The article was about a report on research that has been done by the University of Toronto based on work it has done in the U.S. looking at the ‘HALO effect’ or what impact churches and communities of faith have in the community,” she said, noting the impact isn’t just relegated to the social, spiritual, and communal values. “It has a real world economic ramifications.”

The HALO Project was sponsored by Cardus, a think tank based in Hamilton, Ont, which is dedicated to the renewal of North American social architecture. Their findings were published in 2016.

According to the project’s website the idea and the initial research for the report were based on a similar project conducted by the the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice in 2010.

“They came up with a calculation and came up with the conclusion for every dollar that goes into the budgets of our communities of faith, the municipality gets a return of $4.77,” Penny said.

Using this multiplier, the HALO effect Barrhead’s 15 churches have is $2,955,686.

Cardus generated this “halo effect” multiplier by assigning a dollar value in close to 50 areas such as open space, educational programs, magnet effect (drawing people into a community for weddings, funerals, concerts, conferences and other events), individual impact and community development.

This additional value was produced through things such as: working with refugees; soup kitchens; helping the homeless; job training; programs to treat substance abuse; programs for children, youth and families; community garden plots; hosting concerts and other events; counselling; recreational activities (gyms and playing fields); operating nursery schools and daycares; and volunteering in the neighbourhood.

“It is always interesting to find out what kinds of positive impacts our residents are making through their involvement in churches and other community groups. Something like this just reminds us of how important they are to our community,” said mayor Dave McKenzie.


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
Read more



Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks