"A little research shows that passing the offering plate was not a regular practice until the 19th century"

[christian cerna]

In many Spanish speaking churches, greeting each other with a kiss on the cheek is the norm. In fact, I think it’s purely an American thing not to practice this.

Not seen it with Asian congregations! There could be some, but I don’t think it is purely American.

BTW- I am not advocating that this be adopted. Just observing that if one really wants to be “more Biblical,” there are much clearer places to start than offering collection methods. I’d be interested, for example, to see if communion is being done with a whole loaf and community cup passed…

Greg Linscott
Marshall, MN

So - two quick thoughts: 1) I know of at least one American congregation that practices the holy kiss and the careful hug - that is the one I pastor. 2) I’m thinking the best way to do the offering is not passing the offering plate or the little box in the back but the way they do it all over Africa. Each member in the congregation dances down the isle - the congregation sings and rejoices and claps. Each member puts in the offering what he or she can do - and they love it! My guess is Heaven loves it too! The African approach get’s my vote……but no I’ll not do that….I’ll either pass the plate or will use the box in the back. Much more ……. conservative (boring).

Straight Ahead guys!

jt

Dr. Joel Tetreau serves as Senior Pastor, Southeast Valley Bible Church (sevbc.org); Regional Coordinator for IBL West (iblministry.com), Board Member & friend for several different ministries;

[Greg Linscott]

Since we’re discarding established traditions in the interests of becoming “more biblical,” I’m looking forward to reading the next entry in the series: “Why We Don’t Shake Hands (Romans 16:16)”

 :)

Greg,

I think Tim Hawkins covers how this is handled at most churches :)

http://youtu.be/Wzxlv5vdN9I

“We consider congregational singing a Biblical aspect of public worship, so we sing during the church service. Likewise with prayer and preaching. We also consider giving an aspect of public worship, so we include it in the items we “do” in the worship service.”

We also consider the offering time of our service to be a part of our corporate worship. We pass the plate and after the offering is collected we stand and sing the Doxology as the ushers bring the offering to the front of the auditorium and leave it at the front.

Often I will make the remark that there is no expectation upon visitors to participate in the offering. I stress that this is a part of our church’s worship.

Any form can be abused. As with Jesus’ teaching on giving, the heart of the giver and the motivation of the giver are always going to be key.

[Greg Linscott]

I’d be interested, for example, to see if communion is being done with a whole loaf and community cup passed…

Greg,

Been there and done that at my wife’s home church in Germany a few years ago. They also used real wine, which I suspect helps keeps down the germs, though I noticed that each person was given a cloth napkin with which to wipe off the rim of the cup before drinking. The church was also small, and the participants at the Lord’s supper that morning were maybe 15 or so.

I don’t think they do this any more as they have grown in size, but it did seem to make the whole ordinance more … personal. Still, for other reasons (like hygiene), I’m glad my church here doesn’t do this.

Dave Barnhart

Or we could skip all of this silly discussion and just offer online offering through paypal.

“So what do we see about giving in the Bible?

1- Giving is an act of private worship before it is an act of public worship.

2- We are not to give to be seen of others.

3- When giving, our right hand is not to know what our left hand is doing.

4- We are not to give under compulsion or because of manipulation or peer-pressure.

5- In the context of the temple giving was done through a giving box.”

Why we pass an offering plate.
We are trying not to align ourselves only with tradition or against tradition, since passing the plate is a relatively new way of doing things, is it not less traditional than a box in the back? I am not for or against a box in the back, but what has more tradition, something done for a thousand years or something done for a hundred or so years.

But on the issues of giving

1-Since giving is an act of private worship before it is an act of public worship, we expect the people of God to have participated in private worship at home as they wrote the check, put the cash in the envelope and then publicly bring it to church to put it in the offering plate. Not sure how a box in the back is more private than an offering plate since everyone will see you put money in the box, but few (only your row of chairs) will see you put money in the plate.

2. -We are not to give to be seen of others. -This is true, and that is why we pass the offering plate, less likely chance for some religious people to stand around the treasury so that they could show off how much they are giving and observe one another. Giving in the offering plate is more discreet, slip in the check as it is passed and no one really notices (unless you “tithe” in quarters).

3. -When giving our right hand is not to know what our left hand is doing-Have no idea what the article author means by this. Does he mean literally? Doubtful, but if not, then it is the same point as number 2, IMO

4. - We are not to give under compulsion or manipulation or fear. The only people who I know who might do that because of passing the plate would be visitors, but then, having a box in the back could do the same thing. They see people putting something in the box as they leave, they might feel pressure to slip a buck or two in themselves so as not to be “rude.” But on the other hand, worship is not for the unbeliever, so we don’t consider that too highly. Passing the plate actually may allow someone to quietly pass it on to the next without any feelings of compulsion since it is a relatively quick and painless process and our ushers do not “stare down people.”

5.-In the context of the temple, giving was done in a box. A lot of things are done differently than the temple days, they also taxed the people. And it seems from the Biblical account, this led to abuse by the Pharisees. So it is possible that we ought to avoid that kind of method for giving. We are not seeking to imitate the temple.

My point in all of this FWIW, is actually not that I am opposed to giving in a box. We have thought of doing that ourselves. Possibly, it could be read in the article (even though this may not be the point of the author) that those who simply pass the plate are not intentional. But maybe they are. Maybe they have thought through the different methods and have come to the conclusion that it is the most doctrinally consistent way of providing for the work of the ministry by God’s people. I absolutely respect and admire those who are seeking to be Biblically intentional in the approach to the practicalities of church, and can completely fellowship and worship in an assembly that does things in a variety of ways, so long as they are thinking through the why and how seriously and theologically (as much as possible). It seems that Mr. Wallace has thought through why they do what they do and applaud him. So have we and this is why we do it the way we do it.

Passing a an offering plate has its downsides. Especially for those who choose to give in other ways.

What if someone chooses to make an offering online? He will be seen to never drop any money into the offering plate.

What about those who would rather give one big check once a month, than smaller offerings every service? Again he will be seen as someone who doesn’t give much.

Unless everyone puts their money in an envelope before putting it into the plate, it can create uncomfortable situations, when a poor man sees that the person next to him dropped in $20’s, but he was only able to put in 50 cents.

What of the man who has been unemployed for several months, and doesn’t have any cash most of the time?

An offering box in the back of the church is preferred. Some will say that people can still try to show off about how much they give. But it is more difficult to do if you ask people to put the money in an envelope first before dropping it in. Also, because people sit at their pews and face the front of the church, they are less likely to be looking at the back where the offering box is.

Preferred method..

Leave the church sanctuary open 24/7 so that people come in to pray whenever they wish. That also allows people to come in when no one else is around and make anonymous contributions.

A little more research will indicate that most churches used a velvet bag on the end of a pole before offering plates came into vogue. That practice goes back at least two or three hundred more years. Ushers guided the bags to stop at each person long enough to deposit their offering. I think we all agree that offering plates is an improvement over that venerable practice.

G. N. Barkman

And because it is 10 years away I may look like a genius today :)

–—

Prediction: in 10 years few churches will pass an offering plate - or for that matter have a box

Churches will advertise multiple ways to give:

  • Mail a check
  • ACH
  • Paypal
  • Or other forms of on-line giving

Here is another interesting question that someone once asked.

“Instead of giving money to the Church, can we give our services/time?”

If someone volunteers to help clean the church every week, or do some landscaping, or serve food after services, or maintain the church website, does that person still have to give money, or as much money? Isn’t the church saving money by that person’s free services?

Our church has it covered. We pass the plate, have boxes in the back, have an ACH giving link on our website and we explain on our website how to use auto-check/bill-pay. That way, we’re sure to offend EVERYone. :-O

Christian, we had a guy who would come to our church office quite frequently wanting to “volunteer”. We’d give him a variety of odd jobs that were nice to have done, though not essential. One day, I saw him take a spiral bound pocket notebook out of his pocket and a small pencil and scroll some numbers and comments. Because I knew him fairly well, I asked him what he was writing. He told me he was making note of the tasks and how long he took to do them. When I inquired further, he told me he deducted the time he worked from the church from his tithe. I’ve always regretted not asking how much he “paid” himself per hour for his work for the Lord. I bet it wasn’t minimum wage.