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Credit cards nudge out collection plates in US congregations
2002-223-6
10/1/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
While electronic giving may never entirely replace the traditional collection plate, charging offerings to a credit card or bank account is becoming an increasingly popular way to donate to a local parish or congregation.
'This is about reflective giving, rather than reflexive giving,' said Andrew Goldberger, the co-founder of ParishPay, a New York-based company that has established an electronic credit-card payment system now being used by churches in New York, Illinois and California.
Rather than fumbling through pockets for bills or coins during a worship service, the system allows parishioners to set aside a designated amount each week or month which is automatically deducted from credit cards or bank accounts. 'It's a more thoughtful way of giving,' Goldberger told ENI in an interview. 'It also makes it easier for people to give.'
Among the company's clients are Greek Orthodox parishes in New York and the Catholic archdioceses of Chicago, Illinois, and San Jose, California. The firm expects to announce that it is signing on a number of Protestant groups shortly, as well as several Jewish bodies, he said.
The firm charges US $1 for each donor and a 1 per cent service fee for each transaction. That means that a church will receive a $98 donation for every $100 contributed. Goldberger noted that since the churches enrolled have seen an increase in donations, they are not missing the $2 that is charged for the service. They have also a more stable income, resulting in better cash flow during summers and other periods when church attendance in the United States tends to decline.
Goldberger underscored that the system is not intended as a turning away from worship attendance. By making more of a financial commitment, he argued that members are likely to have more personal 'investment' in their churches and synagogues.
However, Jack Wilkerson, the vice president of finance for the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, disagrees with credit-card giving. While saying he is 'not opposed to technology,' Wilkerson explained that the system would be adapted by 'mainline Protestant denominations trying to prop up sagging [membership] numbers through a mechanical system of offering.'
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