Most churches still have an offering time that looks something like this.
An invitation is given, such as “And now, as God has richly blessed us in so many ways you are invited to return to God a portion of the gifts that God has bestowed. Will the ushers come forward?
Users then walk down the aisle.
A prayer is spoken either before and/or after the offering.
Plates/baskets/containers are passed among the people during a time of special music or congregational singing.
A celebratory chorus or Doxology is sung as the gifts are brought forward or token to the counting room. The timeframe for this long-0held pattern is five to ten minutes.
1. Clarify Your Why
Despite the energy invested in the offering experience in worship, few churches examine if the time encourages a deeper understanding of the theology of stewardship and contributes to growing disciples of Jesus Christ and increasing individual generosity.
To determine whether or not your offering time is purposefully supporting your theology of stewardship, spend some time with your leadership team, staff, and worship planning team to respond to these questions.
What does your church teach about the theology of stewardship?
What are your goals for spiritual formation or discipleship related to worship?
What is the purpose of the offering experience in worship?
What does your offering time look like? How does it teach spiritual generosity principles?
What percent of the church’s income is currently being received in the offering plates?
What message about generosity is conveyed when the offering plates are mostly empty?
What would it feel like if you did not pass the offering plate?
What stories could you tell about how God is impacting people’s lives through your church? How might telling stories of life change improve the offering time?
How would the offering time be experienced if giving was directly connected to the story of impact and givers were thanked, not for the gift, but for making possible a changed life?
How would the offering time be experienced if giving was directly connected to the spiritual journey of becoming more like Christ in service and giving?
What obstacles must be overcome to create an offering experience that authentically reflects your theology of stewardship, discipleship goals and plan to grow a culture of generosity?
2. Imagine a Better Offering Experience
Responding to the questions in Step #1 should provide some clarity around goals for your offering time. Consider the following sample outline for an offering experience to discern which elements may help you accomplish your worship objectives. Here is a sample offering experience:
Impact Story: In the first two minutes, share a story about a single life that was changed by God through the ministries of your church. Connect the financial generosity of your givers with your church’s ability to do ministry. Use photos and videos, if possible.
By focusing on the story of a single life, you are able to put a face on your ministry impact. Refrain from using a lot of statistics and long descriptions of ministries. For example, if your story is about a student ministry event, focus on one student sharing the story from their perspective. Conclude by referring to the other students who participated and experienced a similar impact.
Ensure there is a clear connection between the life-changing story and the financial generosity of the people who made it possible. Significant transformation happens all around us by the power of God working through God’s people. Of course, people are also impacted through the giving of people’s time and talent. However, it should always be clear to those listening that the life-changing impact experienced in the story is possible because of the collective financial generosity of the church’s supporters.
To be continued next week …
If you would like to discuss these ideas further, please contact the Foundation at (205) 226-7937.
Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash