c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Small business owners who have been burned by bad checks have long responded by posting a sign above their registers: “In God we trust. All others pay cash.”

Well, now there’s a related message in many churches: “In God we trust. All others can use MasterCard, Visa or American Express.”

And beginning this year, the Internal Revenue Service also has a slogan: “In God we trust. All others show receipts.”

A confluence of spiritual and secular interests is driving a change in the way religious communities raise money. On the way out is the traditional practice of church members reaching into their pockets and dropping bills and change in the collection basket on the Sabbath. On the way in are options such as automatic deductions from bank accounts and paying by credit card.

Churches hope the changes will woo young members used to a cashless society and will increase the overall take as worshippers become less arbitrary about what they give each week.

At the same time, the practices, which offer records of the transactions, will help churchgoers meet IRS rules for 2007 mandating receipts to address the gap between what some taxpayers say they give to their houses of worship and the amounts those religious communities actually receive.

This leap into a new financial world is raising questions for churches.

One, will the move away from dropping cash in the basket and incurring the fees associated with credit card use lead to an increase or decrease in overall revenues?

And two, is the offering the same theological experience when individuals make their choice a year in advance on a bank form or credit card as opposed to making a conscious decision each week, one that can be influenced by appeals from the pulpit or the guidance of the Holy Spirit?

Many observers think the move toward automated giving will give churches a budget boost.

“I’m a big fan of electronic giving,” said Charles Zech, an economist at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

In a recent study, he found that 38 percent of regular Mass-attending Catholics decide what they will give based on what is in their checkbook that week. And they don’t contribute on the Sundays they miss.

Having people commit to giving every week and being less susceptible to donating less on weeks they have less money in their pockets will more than make up the revenue that is lost to credit card fees, he said.

Pam McKee, director of stewardship and development at Trinity (Episcopal) Cathedral in Cleveland, said the church realizes credit cards can be “a double-edged sword” because the church pays a 4 percent processing fee when people use credit cards to pay their pledges.

But she said the church is responding to requests from parishioners by offering the option, and research showing people give more when paying by credit card indicates Trinity will come out ahead.

“When it comes out in plastic, it’s almost like it isn’t as painful,” she said.

No one expects the toughened IRS rules to have much of an effect on church budgets.

People generally don’t give based on tax deductions, and those who do throw in cash or loose change tend not to be people who would itemize their tax returns, said Sylvia Ronsvalle of empty tomb inc., a research organization in Champaign, Ill., that studies religious giving.

“We don’t think the new rules will cause any significant change in the amount people give,” said Jessica Vargo, treasurer of the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church.

She said people who make regular donations, “and that’s the majority of our contributors, are likely to be paying with checks. So they have the canceled checks.”

And individual churches in many denominations also provide personal numbered envelopes so people have a record of their cash donations.

Of greater concern to some is the potential loss of individual participation in the service.

There is a sense of community, not to mention accountability, when people place their offering in the collection plate before one another each week, Ronsvalle said.

With electronic giving, the danger exists that church “becomes just another bill to pay,” she said. Paying by credit card or automated deduction also makes it easier to stop paying than it is in a worship setting where giving is a public expression of faith.

“Churches need to work harder at helping people feel integrated with the worship aspect of giving,” Ronsvalle said.

The Rev. Tracey Lind, dean of Trinity Cathedral, said she recognizes it is important to the spirituality and piety of some worshippers that they physically contribute to the collection plate each week. But others are comfortable simply passing the plate with the knowledge they have made electronic deductions.

And both approaches are OK, she said.

“Financial stewardship is about intentionality, and that’s what I preach,” she said. “It’s not about throwing a buck in the plate.”

(David Briggs and Michael Heaton write for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.)

KRE/RB END BRIGGS

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