The last six weeks have been a remarkable time for change and innovation in the church. A year ago what would it have taken for your church to agree to worshiping online? Or having a committee meeting through Zoom or Skype? There aren’t many people in the church saying, “But we’ve always done it that way.”
This week it became clear that the social distancing piece of COVID-19 isn’t going away anytime soon. The City of Akron has cancelled all large-gatherings through Labor Day. Public schools in Ohio and across the country won’t be open for the rest of the year. We’re settling into this thing.
Which makes this the perfect time to talk to your congregation about recurring donations through your online giving program.
Not sure about online giving? I discussed it a couple of weeks ago.
During your offering invitation on Sunday morning (you are still talking about giving, I trust) offer folks the convenience of an automatic system, either through automatic bill pay from their bank or through your online giving system.
As you begin to frame this, I offer some talking points:
- Emphasize that it supports the new-look mission of your church, as opposed to just paying the bills.
- This is an opportunity to remain faithful in giving, even though we are not gathering for worship.
- This can provide a clean, safe electronic alternative to a volunteer touching and processing your physical gift.
- Any automatic arrangement can be adjusted as needed, based on the donor’s financial status, or when we are able to worship together again.
As I have talked with churches about changing how people can provide financial support in new and different ways, habits and existing culture have always seemed to be the biggest hurdles to overcome. This is a time when those walls have been broken down and I encourage you to jump through these openings.
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