As We Emerge from COVID-19, is The Church Collection Plate a Thing of the Past?

Early during the pandemic church lockdown, I saw a desperate social media post from a local pastor: “I’ll be in front of the church with a basket from 3-5pm today, and if you’d like to drive by and drop off an offering check, we’d be very grateful.”

I knew at that moment, that local church wasn’t going to last.

Long before the pandemic hit, many Churches in America had already shifted to online giving, so when the lockdown began, the lack of physical attendance had little impact on their donations. And generally speaking, for those churches who didn’t have online giving, the faster they implemented online platforms, the stronger they responded to the crisis. Read More

The collection of the people’s offerings in a “decent basin” is a practice that was introduced in the Anglican Church in the seventeenth century. The practice is first mentioned in the ill-fated 1637 Scottish Prayer Book, sometimes mistakenly called the “Laudian Liturgy.” In that Prayer Book the rubrics direct the church wardens to collect the people’s offerings in a “decent basin” and bring the basin to the priest who offers them up to God before offering up the bread and the wine for the Holy Communion. Before that time the people put their offerings in the “poor man’s box,” a heavy wooden chest with a slot in its lid through which coins could be posted and a padlock to prevent the theft of money from the box. In earlier times the people brought their offerings to the sacristy of the church.

In the twentieth century it became the practice for church members and regular attendees to pay their contribution to the support of the church in a biweekly or monthly check, depending upon their source of income. Unless the church had several visitors, an empty alms basin was often brought to the priest at the offertory. Many small churches discontinued taking a collection at the offertory and put a receptacle at the back of the sanctuary in which people attending a service might leave their regular offering or donation to the church. As online giving has become more popular, many churches have adopted it not just as an alternative to giving at services but in place of it. A number of churches have installed a card reader in the back of the sanctuary or in kiosk in the lobby in addition to a receptacle in which attendees can leave checks and cash donations. They have also equipped ushers with portable card readers.

Although there are many online giving apps and platforms now available, some churches have resisted online giving. Church leaders have dismissed online giving as too expensive for their church despite the fact these apps and platforms more than pay for themselves and some are free. They have argued that donors who do not regularly attend the church can mail a check to the church if they want to make a donation to the church, ignoring the fact that mailing a donation takes more time and effort than giving a donation online. Churches that have adopted online giving have seen donations increase. I have watched one church that refused to take that step go from four or five services a month to two as it is no longer able to afford a supply priest. While church members are urged to attend the supply priest’s church for Holy Communion, this means that church members who do not live in the community where the church is located must travel an additional distance to church. Soliciting and receiving donations online might have prevented this situation from happening.