An International Church Series

Next, notice who it is that’s meant to do this. "On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside" your collection. This isn’t an instruction for the wealthy. It isn’t an instruction for those whose houses are paid off or whose children have finished school. This is an instruction for everyone: "each of you".

And what are you to give? "put aside and save whatever extra you earn." Now for some people the extra they earn may be a few dollars. I’m reminded of the incident when Jesus pointed out the widow who put a couple of small copper coins in the offertory box in the Temple. Do you remember how he commended her for her great generosity. She gave out of her poverty because giving to God was a priority for her.

For some the extra they earn may be a few hundred dollars. There’s a table inside the news sheet today showing the amount of weekly giving that amounts to a simple tithe for varying levels of income. That is, not the extra we earn, over and above what we need to live on, that could amount to 20 or 30% or even higher, but a mere 10th of what we earn. I imagine there are a number of people in our congregation who would be earning more than, say, $50,000 a year. Well, if you’re earning that and are tithing your income your weekly giving would be about $100.

I had a look at last year’s financial report during the week. Do you know what our average weekly giving per regular attender was last financial year? It was $20 per week. I wonder are we each setting aside, every week, or every month, the extra wealth that God provides us, over and above what we need to live on or are we just giving God our spare change?

I was reading an article during the week by a professor of Marketing at London Business School. It’s the observations of an outsider looking at the way the Church goes about its task of bringing salvation to the world. While his observations come almost entirely from a secular marketing viewpoint he does have some interesting comments to make, including this one. "How do we pay for this? (Improving our market share!) Out with the weekly collection: is there any better example of the archaic status of the church than a bowl being passed around for loose change? Instead we need to bring in a customer relationship management strategy with different payment plans, including easy pay direct debit."

Well, he may have a point. These days the weekly offering, for most people under 55 at least, is an anachronism. These days when I have a bill to pay I ring up and pay over the phone with my credit card, or I connect to the Internet and do it though electronic banking. If I go to the shops to buy something I do it in most cases with a credit card. My gym membership, among other things, is paid by regular monthly payments taken automatically from my credit card. So why aren’t more of us using that sort of facility for our weekly or monthly giving? When the plate comes around today, are you going to check in your pocket or your purse to see what loose change is there or have you thought out beforehand and set aside an amount that reflects the prosperity God has provided you with? I actually wonder what would happen if we didn’t pass around the collection plate. Some people might be relieved that they don’t need to give anything, but would it encourage others to give directly by credit card or EFT without the embarrassment of not having something to put in the plate each week? Maybe that’s something for vestry to think about some more.