July 8, 2016

Pushpay (eChurch giving), iOS | Android

“He (Jesus) sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44

“eChurch giving is a way to make donations to your church without having to give cash or write out checks. Pushpay would be one of those apps you could download for your phone or computer for just this purpose. Here is some information for Pushpay: “Pushpay® is the fastest, free, and convenient way to…support your favorite charities or give to your church.
Make secure 10 second payments from your iOS or Android smart device.
Just load your debit or credit card details once, and you’re ready to go!”

Now, one of the ways that Lutheran churches have tried to make donating to your church a lot easier is through the “Simply Giving Program”. The “Simply Giving Program” is endorsed by Thrivent. Here is some information from their website:

“The Simply Giving® Program is an automated stewardship program that helps members live generously. It’s a convenient, safe and simple way for individuals to make automatic payments to nonprofit organizations through electronic funds transfer (EFT) directly from checking or savings accounts. Thrivent Federal Credit Union has contracted with industry leader Vanco Payment Solutions to provide electronic payment processing services at reduced rates – so your generosity goes further.”

Giving to the church has gone through many different phases over the last 350 years. In the early years of the church in America, families would often give small amounts of money, but also nails, eggs, boards, chickens – whatever they had for the building of the church and the support of the congregation and the pastor. As time wore on and churches were built, people gave money, wrote checks, and even put the church in their wills. Now, we have so much technology available that many people never carry actual cash. They only pay bills “on-line”, rarely write checks, and look for any way they can pay or give using online resources. The biggest problem today is convincing the church to invest in this or a similar resource. Anything to make giving to the church easier and more convenient is worth the investment. And if the millennials are to feel welcome in the life of the church, we may need to meet them where they and their money is located.

Pastor Dave