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Despite the economic downturn, more than half of actively religious donors plan to give the same or more to charitable causes in 2009 as they did last year, a new survey shows.

Cygnus Applied Research, a Chicago-based international research firm, completed a survey of more than 17,000 U.S. donors to charitable causes in February. It found that 57 percent of actively religious donors said they expected to give more or the same amount to charitable causes as they did in 2008.

A New York judge has denied a request by a group of parishioners at the landmark Riverside Church to postpone the installation of the church’s new senior pastor because of anger over his compensation package, reported to be worth more than $600,000.

Manhattan Supreme Court judge Lewis Bart Stone on April 21 denied a request that the installation of Brad Braxton, set for April 26, be delayed.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America both have slashed their 2009 budgets, cutting programs and laying off scores of personnel as denominations continue to suffer from the recession.

The ELCA, the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination, announced a $5.6 million reduction in its 2009 budget on March 31. The cut was necessary in part because regional synods plan to decrease their contributions to the denomination by $2.4 million this year, church leaders said.

As many congregations grapple with declining contributions, some faith communities are following the lead of cash-strapped corporations by laying off employees. But when you’re putting someone’s spiritual leader out on the street, the task is more difficult.

“Terminal niceness” keeps congregations from dealing honestly with unneeded or ineffective staff members, former General Electric CEO Jack Welch told 750 people attending a recent ministerial leadership conference at South eastern Univer sity in Lakeland, Florida.