Many of you may have never heard of Sylvia and John Ronsvalle or Cal and Rose Samra.
But for more than three decades each has followed a calling: Sylvia and John’s research holds up moral imperatives on issues such as child hunger; Rose and Cal promote shared joy with religious humor across traditions.

Churchgoers like to think of themselves as generous and cheerful givers, but for many the flesh appears to be weak when it comes to living up to their own standards for charitable giving. A quarter of respondents in a new national study said they tithed 10 percent of their income to charity. But when their donations were checked against income figures, only 3 percent of the group gave more than 5 percent to charity. The findings from the Science of Generosity Survey not only suggest the need to take a closer look at self-reported figures on tithing, but indicate the internal conflicts many religious individuals face when it comes to giving.