Money and church...

I seem to recall a argument some time ago over Langley church's placement of the collection bags after offerings. At that time the argument was raised that if that were to be declared "bad", then the same argument could be used to call for the removal of a collection from a church service in it's entirety. With that in mind, I wanted to see what you thought on about the issues raised in the following article.

Comments

I've complained about the placement of the collection bags in Langley church in the past. Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but the impression I got the first time I saw it was that it was being set up as some sort of alter. I questioned Rev. Visscher about it and he said they did it to place more emphasis on giving. IMHO that's a pretty weak argument; assuming putting the bags there achieved this goal, the bags aren't put there until after everyone has already given. In my opinion, the bags should go back in the rack next to the deacons until the service is over. Having a collection in itself is perfectly fine.

As for electronic payments, it sounds like a pretty good idea, though I can think of a few drawbacks:

1. What if you are not able to give the same amount every month? When car insurance gets renewed is a good example of this. Rather than giving x every month, someone might prefer to give x + y for eleven months and x - z the month after car insurance is due, where z = y * 11 approximately.

2. What if you want to give more to a certain cause? Argueably though this problem is not unique to electronic payment. In Aldergrove, all collections are for "the needy", and the deacons later decide how much will be distributed to each cause.

3. Putting money in the collection bag is anonymous (unless you put a cheque in). Some people might not like the deacons knowing exactly how much they've given.

It's definitely got some good points though, and convenience is number 1. Most banks (if not all) charge you for printing cheques, and ordering them is inconvenient if you can't do it online. Getting loonies is also inconvenient because you have to go to the bank when it is actually open. I think though that I would prefer to manually make the electronic payment at the same time as I make all my other payments.

I think though that it would be good to retain the collection bags, since not everybody may be comfortable to make electronic payments.

One question that comes to mind: if you were to make donations electronically and you visit another congregation, do you contribute twice?

he said they did it to place more emphasis on giving. IMHO that's a pretty weak argument. ... Having a collection in itself is perfectly fine.

How do you reconcile the two arguments?

What if you are not able to give the same amount every month?

My credit card bill has always been paid through electronic funds transfer even though that differs from month to month. Such a mechanism could / would remove money from services entirely. Another such mechanism is some sort of drop box around the building that you could throw a check or something in (cash could work too if you're worried about remaining anonymous, but then security may become more of an issue).

Most banks (if not all) charge you for printing cheques

Not PC Financial.

One question that comes to mind: if you were to make donations electronically and you visit another congregation, do you contribute twice?

That's for you to figure out, although I'd tend to say yes. Personally, I dislike giving all responsibility for money management to one church or organization that a tithe seems to involve.

How do you reconcile the two arguments?

I call the more emphasis argument weak because I don't see their intended solution as giving any more emphasis. As for having a collection alltogether, I think a collection is ok, but I disagree with putting so much emphasis on it that it becomes the highlight of the worship service.

Indeed, automatic payments can be a great thing, but some people prefer to see the bill before it's paid, either to make sure there's nothing on there that shouldn't be or to make sure there's enough money in the bank account to cover it. I'm not disagree with automatic payments, but I think it would be nice if electronic payments could be either automatic or manual, especially if you want to give more some months and less the month after car insurance gets paid. Sure you could probably make such an arrangement with the church, but that's all done in advance. On the other hand, if you want to give more than your regular payment, you could always stick it in the collection bag.

Having a drop box at the church is a bad idea IMHO. Some crooks are targetting churches in particular already.