But when it comes time to giving, the governor doesn't come close to the biblical guidance of tithing.

From 2000, when Perry became governor, through 2009, he earned a total of $2.68 million, according to his tax records. Of that amount, he gave about half a percent to churches and religious organizations, or $14,243.

By comparison, Americans averaged gifts of nearly 1.2 percent of their income to churches and religious groups from 2004 to 2008, according to Empty Tomb Inc., an Illinois-based research firm specializing in U.S. church-giving trends.

"He's going to have a hard time with this. While that may be acceptable for someone who does not aspire to leadership, evangelicals get very concerned when their leaders don't walk the talk," said Michael Lindsay, incoming president of Gordon College and author of Faith in the Halls of Power.

Perry declined an interview request by the Houston Chronicle/San Antonio Express-News to discuss his views on prayer, personal religious observance and charitable giving.

"He never talks about his faith," Perry spokesman Mark Miner said.

In a prepared statement, deputy press secretary Catherine Frazier said: "Governor Perry agrees tithing is important and what he has given to the church should not be discounted. Additionally, tithing is only one aspect of a person's faith, and the personal decision of each family.

"Governor Perry has followed his words with action regarding his own faith, having taken many opportunities to stand up for people of faith and promote values important to the church, including signing legislation that protects religious expression, protects unborn life and promotes adoption."

Presidential bid?

Perry's leading role in organizing a national day of prayer and fasting on Aug. 6 in Houston is taking the governor's Christian faith further into the public square. And it opens him up to closer scrutiny, particularly since he is considering a presidential run and has scheduled the prayer gathering one week before the Iowa Republican straw poll.

Perry's Reliant Stadium prayer gathering "just automatically raises deep questions for thoughtful citizens about what is he up to?" said the Rev. William K. McElvaney, a retired Dallas-area United Methodist minister and professor emeritus of preaching and worship at Southern Methodist University. People serve their faith in many ways, he emphasized, adding that a person of Perry's means could contribute significantly - if he wanted.

"I can forgive him for that if he were really strong on public policy from a faith standpoint," McElvaney said. "If his public policy really showed care and support for our children and single mothers and aging people and all the most vulnerable people .... that Jesus Christ was most concerned about.

"If he would encourage public policy in that direction, then I would be less interested in how much he gives, although I wouldn't say it's totally irrelevant," he said. "The influence comes through the public policy issues, and when that doesn't square with one's faith, then, yeah, it ought to raise some very deep questions for the public."

No housing expenses

The Internal Revenue Service keeps taxpayer donations by income groups. The most recent tax year for which those statistics are available is 2008.

Perry fell into the $200,000 to $500,000 adjusted gross income bracket that year. Perry's family income is somewhat distorted because taxpayers cover his housing expenses, including utilities and food - leaving him with more disposable income than others in his income bracket.

The average cash charitable contribution from U.S. taxpayers in his income bracket was $6,529.

Perry gave $2,998 in cash to charity in 2008 - not including a pay raise from the Legislature that his staff said he would donate to charity instead of keeping. The governor's pay jumped from $115,000 to $150,000 after legislative action in 2007.

In the 2008 tax year, he gave $34,988 to charity from that pay raise - $9,996 each to March of Dimes; Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (where his wife is a $65,000-a-year consultant), and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation; and $5,000 to the Mansion Restoration project.

The following year, the amount of money that went to charity from his raise dropped to $20,000.

Below-average giving

Perry has said he grew up a United Methodist and has previously affiliated with Tarrytown United Methodist Church. But he regularly attends Lake Hills Church, Frazier said, where he started going not long after he and his family moved out to West Austin in the wake of the fire at the Governor's Mansion and ongoing restoration project.

Perry did not report any contribution to Lake Hills in 2009. The largest church contribution during Perry's stint as governor came in 2008 when he gave Lake Hills $2,850 from an adjusted gross income of $277,667.

Looking at Perry's giving to churches since becoming governor in 2000, it falls below the national average of 1.2 percent recorded by Empty Tomb between 2004-2008.

In 2008, Vice President Joe Biden, a Roman Catholic, faced criticism when his tax records for the past decade showed he gave an average of $369 or 0.2 percent of his yearly income to charities.

Voters expect politicians to keep up a cultural duty to be philanthropic, said Lindsay, based on a standard of shared, community responsibility. As a self-described, committed Christian, Perry is expected to espouse the same biblical instruction to tithe regularly and give generously for charitable causes as peers in the evangelical community.

"It suggests that at least in terms of financial giving," Linsday said, "biblical teachings don't seem to weigh very heavily on the governor's action."

Staff writer Peggy Fikac contributed to this report.

gscharrer@express-news.net