2016 is racing towards us. Before too long Thanksgiving & Christmas will be distant memories. Here at the church, we have been working on preparing and distributing the 2016 offering envelopes. This has prompted me to take this opportunity to write about the tithes and offerings of FBC.
Offerings used to be a simple thing. The offering plate was passed and you dropped money into it. It was easy. It was uncomplicated. Today, it is a different story. Today, a large portion of our tithes and offerings does not come in through the traditional offering plate. It comes in the mail or via some electronic method. So, today I thought it might be helpful to provide a guide. Here are five ways you can contribute to FBC.
- Cash – We still accept cash. 🙂 Fewer people are carrying it these days. In case you are confused, cash is the green paper that you get from the bank. It usually has a picture of a dead president or Benjamin Franklin on it. (We like Ben Franklin’s picture the best.) The main consideration with cash is we cannot post a cash contribution to your giving record unless you use an offering envelope to tell us that the cash is from you. If an end-of-year giving statement is important to you, then make sure your cash contributions come in an envelope that is labeled with your name and address.
- Checks – We accept checks. This is by far our most common method of contribution. Most of you simply write a check and give it to the church. Some drop their check directly into the offering plate. Others mail their check to the church. Some use the online bill pay feature of their checking account. With this method, their bank prints a computer-generated check and mails it directly to us. Others write their check, place it in an offering envelope, and then put it into the offering plate. Using an envelope allows for greater flexibility in designating your offering to one or more designated funds.
- ACH – We accept ACH contributions. Think of ACH as the ‘set it and forget it’ method of contributing. With this method, you complete our ACH Authorization Form and submit it to us. Then, your tithes and offerings are automatically transferred to us on a weekly or monthly basis. This method is most appealing to those who desire to contribute a fixed amount on a regular basis. Once your ACH contribution is established it can easily be changed by contacting the church office.
- Stock – We accept Stock contributions. Recently, one our members contributed their tithe via stock. They had some shares of a publicly traded company and they gave them to the church. We promptly sold them and added the funds to our General Fund. I am no tax expert, but for some contributing stock may be more tax advantageous than contributing cash. We have an account setup that can process transactions like these. Our policy is to immediately sell stock as soon as it is received.
- Cards – We accept credit/debit card contributions. This is done through our Paypal account which can be accessed through our website. We setup this account simply to be a convenience for some. Some live their lives without cash or checks. Some are often out of town. Some just forget to bring their offering to church. Our Paypal account allows you to contribute anytime you like – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, our Paypal account does incur fees. Roughly 2% of every contribution we receive through Paypal is deducted in fees. I only mention the fees so that you are aware. We will continue to have a Paypal account. For some, it may be the only way they can contribute to the church. However, for others, you may want to utilize another method of contributing to help the church save on these administrative fees. FBC incurs no fees for cash, check, or ACH contributions.
We praise the Lord for the abundant ways in which He provides for FBC. Time and time again I have been surprised by how God provides. Our offerings at FBC are impossible to predict. Whenever I start thinking I can predict them, God does something completely unexpected just to remind me that He is ultimately in control.
As always, if you should have any questions about any financial matters at FBC, please just ask. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Happy Friday!
Stephen
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