“We’ve always done it that way.”
How many times have we heard this in the church? But the fact of the matter is usually the “always” is exaggerated. For instance, Donald Smith notes in his book that in colonial times churches were funded by the state. That was true in Williamsburg and Bruton Parish and the other Churches of England were funded by the burgesses. But when the founders put together the Constitution it was important to our new country that the churches would be free from the influence of the United States and so churches were no longer funded by government money. It was during this time that the tradition of “pew fees” or “pew rental” came into fashion. If you wanted to be seen in good stead in the community, you would contribute to the church and a plaque with your name would be put on your pew, reserving it for your use. Other churches had numbers on the pew so the ushers would know which pew to seat the members who had paid. This continued through the late 1800’s. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that churches began passing receptacles to collect contributions. Some passed long sticks with cloth pockets while others began to pass “offering plates.”
It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that churches began passing receptacles to collect contributions. Some passed long sticks with cloth pockets while others began to pass “offering plates.”
We are going through another major shift in regard to how people contribute to the church. In the chapter "Saying Goodbye to Passing the Plates" Smith believes the days of "receiving the offering by ushers passing a receptacle are long past." One primary reason is most people give today by mailing a monthly check, giving online, direct deposit, or year-end annuity contribution, so as the plates are passed they are mostly empty giving a poor symbol for what it means to give to God. We have found this to be true at Williamsburg Presbyterian Church as well. During COVID we decided not to pass the plate because of health reasons and thankfully your faithful financial support continued in spite of not passing the plate. It also made us reevaluate the significance and purpose of our offering time in worship. The act of offering in worship should not be just about collecting funds. Our offering to God is so much more than that. In the act of offering we are offering our gratitude to God and
our recognition that all we have belongs to God. We also offer ourselves in service to God during this time, reflecting on how we can do God’s will to care for the needy, help the helpless and work for God’s righteousness and justice. So, we have intentionally added “offering reflections” that lift us the many ways we offer our service to God through the programs and groups of our congregation. I also appreciate being able to focus and reflect on the choir’s offering during this time which inspires me and uplifts me.
After much discussion the Worship Ministry has decided to make a change and not pass the plates. Instead we hope this time will enable us to focus on the many ways we offer ourselves to God. We will continue to have an usher at each door who will respectfully receive your tithes and contributions to the ministry of WPC. In addition to the fact that the minority of people put an offering in the plate, we also know that times are changing. Most people under the age of 30 don’t have a checkbook and wouldn’t think of carrying cash with them. The new QR code in the bulletin is getting more and more use and prepares us for the future of making contributions. There were also very few people who used the preprinted offering envelopes we once provided for members. Those have to be ordered in numbers that were higher than those who have requested them. We will continue to provide blank envelopes available at each of the entries to the sanctuary and you can also find them in the pocket of the friendship pad. If you would really like envelopes with your name on it we can make some for you at the church office.
I hope this helps explain why we made these decisions and that there was a lot of thought and discussion that went into it. It may be that years from now it will change again and someone will say, “but we’ve always done it this way.”
