The National Post's blog has a short post entitled "Praise the Lord and swipe the plastic", talking about modern churches installing donation kiosks and offertory point-of-(purchase?) equipment.
Two questions come to me from this. Does it undermine the practice of tithing if you can do it with minimal effort? What is the value of this effort? If something takes more work, is it a better show of generosity?
Second, should churches respond to flagging donations on account of less people carrying cash by making it easier to give, or should they be dealing with a convenience and experience-oriented congregation who expect to be catered to if they are to give? Rather than "selling" church and God's work, should we see tithing promoted as an appropriate response of thankfulness to Christ and His grace?
For the record, I seldom use collection plates. Over the course of the year my tithes accumulate in a high interest account before being given, lump sum, to my church. So far, I wouldn't say it undermines my intentionality at all.
Thoughts?
8 comments:
My brother and I have had conversations on this at some length. I don't believe in "selling" church, either - I believe in giving through gratitude. Giving recedes, I think, in response to a breakdown in narrative formation - we forget who we are; hence the importance of (e.go will love this!) tradition! It places giving in the story of the people of God, not church as an expense item in the story of Western capitalism.
As for the method of giving, I don't use collection plates either - but my brother insists that the tactile ritual of giving real money is a critical part of worship. As an crypto-Catholic, I have a hard time disagreeing with this. On the other hand, giving via direct withdrawal is just how I manage my finances. But maybe I should make an active exception in this case. Love to hear other people's thoughts on!
Interesting post. I've practiced all three: giving cheques, direct withdrawal and lump sums.
I'm of the mind that while there is something nice about placing money into the collection plate that I didn't feel like the gift was given until I saw the funds come from my account, something which happens through direct withdrawal anyways. And, given that I check my accounts regularly, I was reminded every time that I saw that money disappear as to where it was going. The physical cheque wasn't the key.
A couple of other thoughts/confessions:
1. I generally see tithes as an expense item, as I place it on the debit side of things in my personal accounting. Indeed, it is as regular as the phone bill or mortgage every month; perhaps that is not the most suitable way to approach giving, perhaps it is. Giving is supposed to done out of gratitude, as Adunare notes, and I'm not sure if the physical cheque or other methods necessarily aids or hinders that sense of gratitude.
2. I think this highlights the need for giving/tithing to be tied to a set a spiritual discipline -- mainly prayer, I think -- which ties the spoken or written word to the giving of funds. Perhaps the prayer "Lord, we give you this gift out of our great thanks for you and what you've done for us" should be prayed as routinely as the withdrawal, or more.
3. "Extra" giving is something which also encourages that gratitude. I would equate it with the expensive perfume broken over Jesus' feet. This takes giving out of the simple balance sheet and introduces an element of risk and therefore trust -- perhaps it will throw off your budget for the month, perhaps it will require a sacrifice of something. To be frank, I've only done this once, and it was with some trepidation. But, we did manage, and some.
A few thoughts.
Oh, and I'm vehemently opposed to having debit machines in the physical space of church, at least as they are currently designed. There is something to the need for discrete giving that this would completely undermine. The architecture of such things reminds me, and everyone else, of a gas station or shopping mall. And, physical space matters.
Our church doesn't pass the collection plate, instead it opts for a locked box at the back of the church. I've never seen people use it, but every Sunday it's full when it's brought up to the front.
Our church back home switched from two collection plates (the first for the church, the second for a specific collection) and saw a fairly dramatic drop in giving. Out of site ...
It was a very cool feeling for me to empty my high-interest account with a single cheque addressed to the church. It definitely felt more like an investment and less like an expense when it's done like that. Granted, if everyone followed suit the church would have no end to cash flow issues. :)
And I don't know if I'm any more keen on the language of investment, than I am on the language of expense.
I'm beginning to see portable debit machines used for, say, pizza deliveries and restaurants. Perhaps we will see these passed down the pews at some point. As giving may be slowed down somewhat, longer offertories will have to be composed for the organists. Think of it: the next technological breakthrough may be a boon to church musicians.
By the way, I've posted something new here: Christianity and Hellenism.
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the training of one? check this youtube vid!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2smepXw2kY
-- "
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