If you joined us on Sunday morning, you probably saw our new Pew Cards! We are excited to add this new element to our worship service, expanding opportunities to participate in the offering of our lives and resources. The below article from the Spring 2024 Reflections highlights the cards. We hope you will explore this new way to partake in worship with us!
It is Right to Give Thanks and Praise
By Peter Larson
For as long as we have had churches, worshipers have offered thanks and praise, including monetary donations, in support of the ministry of the church. For many years, governments supported churches, however this practice ended in America following the American Revolution. In the early 1800’s, opposition to the practice of pew rentals, which had been used by some church to generate revenue after public funding ended, resulted in free seating for all congregants. The tradition of passing the offering plate began only after worshipers were seated in pews, and by the 1900’s most churches were taking up a weekly offering. Growing up we all had our pennies stashed away in piggy banks. I remember well that on Sunday mornings, my folks would make sure we brought some change to drop in the offering plate as it passed. I remember seeing many donation envelopes and bills in those plates; they were often full to overflowing. After bringing the plates forward, the ushers quickly disappeared and put the offerings in a bank bag full of cash to be deposited on Monday morning.
Before COVID, we saw much of our giving shifting to direct deposit, online, auto withdrawals, etc. During COVID, our giving shifted nearly entirely to “non-traditional” methods. Now, many churches no longer pass the offering plate. Worship offerings have evolved over time, reflecting both ancient practices and modern adaptations. Our worship committee has been discussing the pros and cons of passing the plate. On the one hand, very few people now carry cash or checks and it is difficult to see empty or almost empty plates being passed. On the other hand, the Offertory is a significant part of communal worship and ties giving to being part of a spiritual experience and discipline.
What could we do to continue to have the Offertory be a participative act of worship, allowing us to respond to God’s grace each week? Part of the answer was right in front of us. Each and every Sunday, after we respond to the Offertory and sing the Doxology, we repeat the words of the Sursum Corda: an exchange of formal greeting between leader and people; (The Lord be with you; and also with you) an invitation to lift our hearts to God, the people responding in agreement (Lift up your hearts; we lift them up to the Lord); and an invitation to give thanks, with the people answering that it is proper to do so. (Let us give thanks to the Lord our God; It is right to give thanks and praise).