"passing the plate"

I just added a way to donate to actionchurch online (below my picture to your right on the blog), so I guess we should "talk" about money.

First of all, I believe actionchurch is a great place to "invest" in! I believe it is actually possible to change the way York County thinks about the church and (by extension) Jesus! If I didn't believe in our cause, not only would I not invite others to give, I certainly wouldn't be putting our personal finances on the line to see this dream for York County happen. Second, we actually plan to not do the traditional "passing the plate" thing in our Sunday morning gatherings. We will instead have "giving boxes" in the back of the venue and encourage online giving. We are currently using Paypal for our online giving as they are the largest, most secure, and most economical way for us to accept donations at this point.

Here's our "plan" for receiving donations:

1. Make it "guilt free"- People may pull a crumpled "one" or "five" from their pocket due to guilt...but they won't actually "support" a ministry. We want people to financially support actionchurch because they support our cause!
2. Make it easy to do- Some of you have actually emailed me to ask for our address to send donations. Thanks so much, but it shouldn't be that hard! That's why we have added the online giving button on the Blog. It's simple, It's secure, and of course it is tax deductible. (Now accepting Visa, MC, Amex,Discover, and personal checks online)
3. Make it "Worth it"!- This is the most important thing to me. I know that everyone (including myself) wants to give to organizations that are actually helping their community. Imagine if a charity advertised that "100% of your donations goes to our salaries, buildings, and other overhead"...can you imagine wanting to donate to that organization? I certainly have nothing against salaries and necessary "overhead", but it's of utmost importance to me that actionchurch never become an entity that just "takes in" and never "gives out". To set the "tone" of being a "Service" church instead of a "Serve us" church our first event was to give money to the American Cancer Society. Right now all giving is going toward 1. Community outreach (Such as the York Fair) 2. Securing a meeting location for Sunday Mornings, and 3. Equipment needed for outreach or Sunday mornings...period.