Print edition: 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. —With school out and family vacations on, summer is a challenging time for church attendance.
This brutal heat isn't helping.
"Some people are just kicking back for the summer," said the Rev. Jeremiah Spencer, pastor of Holy Name Catholic Church in Kansas City, Kan.
Congregational leaders say summer always means a drop in attendance. Most attribute it to vacations, but some blame the heat.
On the other hand, a cool church can be a nice place to be.
Without air conditioning, "we probably would have six people here," quipped the Rev. Chad Herring, associate pastor of Southminster Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kan.
The hot weather isn't just a concern regarding the number of people in pews. A prolonged hot spell can cause health and financial worries.
To help take care of its elderly, many churches have volunteers who make sure older members are all right.
And paying higher utility bills is a problem for low-income families. With heat in the triple digits, many people turn to worship centers for help.
Some congregations said they get calls year-round from people needing help with their utility bills. The financial effect of July's heat won't be felt until the August bills come in.
The Rev. Fran Cary, pastor of Trinity A.M.E. Church in Kansas City, Kan., said already "we are receiving more requests this summer than ever before for help with electric bills."
More people also are calling St. James United Methodist Church, said the Rev. Emanuel Cleaver III.
"We had funds for that, but we're all out," he said. "So we are having to refer people to area agencies."
Barbara Williams, office administrator at St. Stephen Baptist Church, said the church receives calls every other day from people who need help with their electric bills. St. Stephen also has to refer them to other places.
People occasionally come to St. James and ask to fill bottles from the church water fountain, Cleaver said.
Southminster is part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network, and members take turns providing shelter for homeless families.
"Last week was our week, and we housed two families trying to escape the heat," Herring said.
Not only are people having problems staying cool, some congregations are also having challenges. Copper has been stolen from some air-conditioning units.
Cary said copper was taken from the church's air-conditioning units on two occasions this summer, and the congregation went two Sundays without cool air.
"But people didn't stay away," she said. "If we had gone longer, they may have."
The church moved its air-conditioning unit to the roof, which is harder to reach, she said.
And recently the congregation visited another church for an afternoon service, and that building had no air conditioning after a copper theft, she said.
"And thieves don't get that much for it, but it is a costly expense for churches to replace," she said.
Copper also was stolen from one of the air-conditioning units at St. James, and an entire unit was taken at its activities campus, Cleaver said.
The heat has caused congregations to make adjustments.
A picnic for older members was moved indoors several years ago and remained indoors this year because of the heat, said the Rev. Mike Stubbs at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Overland Park, Kan.
Trinity A.M.E. canceled its community picnic because of the heat, Cary said.
With the decline in summer attendance, donations also drop off.
"It does have an impact on our budget," Spencer said. "We try to remind people that expenses go on. We're an urban-core parish, and when collections are down, it diminishes our ability to assist people."
Cleaver said the heat has affected people in different ways.
"Some people just don't want to come out," he said. "And it can be dangerous, especially for the elderly and the sick.
"This (heat wave) reminds us there are so many things many of us take for granted, like air conditioning, that many others don't have."
