Pass the Plate?

Here are my thoughts and those of Ben Richards (Share Financial-Dallas, TX).

Passing the plate is not the most effective way to collect tithes and offerings, even though most churches still deploy this long standing collection tradition. Today, more and more churches are not passing the plate, instead are opting to have a dedicated place in the church building where congregants can place their money. This has been called the agape or love box.

But the most effective way and perhaps the most important strategy in this digital age, is the option for congregants to donate on-line. One line giving can also automatically draw each month thus eliminating the discretionary decision that congregants may make.

Besides the actual collection of money, the most important aspect of giving starts with the heart—the heart of the congregants and the heart of the pastor. It is a church’s lead pastor who must regularly teach his congregants of the blessings that come from tithing. This teaching can be supplemented and enhanced by personal testimonies from congregants (perhaps every quarter) on how their life has been blessed because of and since they started tithing.