When the togetherness of a worshiping community is ripped out, churches have to create doorways for giving, said Karl Mattison in the second of three Presbyterian Foundation Day of Learning events: Virtual Campaigns and Online Giving.
In a typical month, the Presbyterian Foundation’s online services team receives 12-15 online giving applications.
But there’s been absolutely nothing typical about 2020.
By mid-March, COVID-19 began changing the way the world interacts, and the church was not immune to those changes. Amid social distancing and shelter-in-place orders, many churches either canceled worship or moved to a virtual form of worship. Pastors and sessions looked for creative ways to worship and to care for the most vulnerable church members in a quickly changing landscape. But what about financial stewardship during such a time as a pandemic – or any other event that would interrupt traditional modes of being the church?
The following is revised and updated from a Presbyterian News Service article published March 11:
As the COVID-19/coronavirus outbreak advances, congregations are responding in creative and highly effective ways. Given strong guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and federal, state, and local governments against gathering in person, many have chosen live-streaming or pre-recorded modified services as a way to glorify God together, stay connected as the body of Christ, and seek the healing work of the Spirit.
he Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the President and Executive Director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency have written a pastoral letter to Presbyterians living with the rapidly-spreading coronavirus pandemic.
Mount Pleasant is a community of fewer than 9,000 people. It has an idyllic town square surrounded by restaurants and local businesses, just like one would expect when picturing small-town Iowa.
That image changed on May 9, 2018, when dozens of men were seized from Mount Pleasant’s Midwest Precast Concrete plant by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
A new study by the Lake Institute was recently released that delves into how American congregations “receive, manage and spend” financial resources.
Attendees at the annual Stewardship Kaleidoscope conference received a summary of these findings during the gathering’s opening plenary session, guided by Melissa Spas, Managing Director of Education and Engagement for the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving.
It’s the way of the world these days, isn’t it? We expect everything to be available with the click of a mouse or tap of our thumb. We click and ship our way through Christmas. We order groceries online and pick them up without ever venturing inside a store. We even support our favorite nonprofit organizations through an online gift on Giving Tuesday — an opportunity for holiday shoppers to be altruistic after their Black Friday and Cyber Monday retail indulgences.
Online giving is steadily growing at “Decatur’s oldest church with the newest ideas,” according to the Rev. Dr. Todd Speed. He’s the senior pastor at Decatur Presbyterian Church, an 800-member multi-generational church in the east Atlanta metro area that has used services from the Presbyterian Foundation to collect online donations since 2012.
Online giving is steadily growing at “Decatur’s oldest church with the newest ideas,” according to the Rev. Dr. Todd Speed. He’s the senior pastor at Decatur Presbyterian Church, an 800-member multi-generational church in the east Atlanta metro area that has used services from the Presbyterian Foundation to collect online donations since 2012.
