Church offering

It makes no difference when it is taken, as long as the people have a chance to give during the service is all that should really matter..

 

Before They........

Before they leave. In our church, the same people [every week] come after the offering, and some leave before the offering. Neat little trick, huh? I think the pastor [at our church] ought to post an usher at the back door to catch these folks and shake them loose of their spare change on their way out :laugh: , kind of like the Salvation Army Bell Ringers at Christmas time.

A good pastor should not let anyone miss out on this blessing [to them and to God].

Shalom,

Pastor Paul

 

1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

 

Giving is an act of worship, and it should be done during the worship service when it is the most seemly.

 

I prefer to put all my offerings in the plate around 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

It was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon that Christ gave His all for us.

 

I think it should be taken at some point before the message because I've always felt that if it's taken after the message, somebody is going to give based on how well they liked the sermon. :laugh: I think if it's taken before the sermon at least the pastor doesn't have to worry about the amount correlating to how well he preached on a given Sunday!:thumbs:

 

:laugh: I had to clean off my keyboard. Thanks for the good laugh!

We have tried at various times in the service. Now we do it about midway in the service. The only Biblical concept is on the first day of the week, but I don't think this precludes any other days.

 

We are given many elements of worship such as singing, preaching and the singing to the Lord etc.
Giving is one of the elements.

The important thing is that we are obedient in the elements that we participate in.

Since the Bible gives no order of service then we are not required to have any specific order of worship, it is just up to an individual congregation to make a wise decision based on their circumstances.

 

We have the offering/giving time toward the end of the service, after the invitation. I believe it doesn't matter when as long as people have the opportunity to take part in that element of worship.

 

Ours is done near the beginning in between a few songs. I agree it's an act of worship, and should be done at some point during the worship service

 

Our church doesn't take an offering. visitor donations are not accepted either. A wooden locked box is located near the front door. Donations increased when this practice was put into effect.

 

That's your idea, or does scripture say it?

 

Same here. I do know of a few churches who use lock boxes because the church was big and passing offering plates was taking too much time during the service. (How long is too long when it comes to collecting money?:saint: )

 

Same with our church.

And we don't do it because of our size - we're a smallish church. Pastor and the Elders decided to do it this way so as not to disrupt the flow of the service.

 

I often take the offering up at the end of the service. I don't always, I like to mix things up. Sometimes I do a traditional invitation, sometimes I use decision cards and collect them with the offering. Using the decision card Has increased decisions for Christ, baptism, and church membership. It also gives me contact info for followup!:thumbs: