[This reflection by Michael Goble was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 19/Mar/2023]
It seems hard to believe that at one time there was only one way to give to a church or various charities. Comparatively few people had cheque books, and so the only way to give was putting some money, usually coins, into a collection box. For many voluntary organisations this was their main source of income.
It is still the same today for some charities. For instance, the Royal British Legion rely heavily on their Poppy Day collections, but of course the boxes need emptying, counting and paying in to their bank account. I can remember when the British Legion brought in hundreds of boxes to the bank where I worked and the staff used their “spare” time to count all the money and pay it in. This was part of the bank’s contribution to the community but sadly not today.
It is really good that today we have many different ways to give to the work of charities, but especially also to our church. No longer do we have “the collection”, but we can give our gifts to the Lord by monthly standing orders or by credit or payment cards, as well as by cash or cheques. It is good to see that we have a card reader at the back of the church to make our gifts to the church, and also for special needs. Recently we were able to use our cards to bring hope to the Ukrainian people, through the Dnipro Hope Mission, as they face their suffering in the war caused by the Russian invasion.
Since the new church was built we have longed to build a place at the front of the church where we can meet together on Sundays as a growing community. If we don’t do this we shall no longer grow. Even though the present financial conditions make things difficult, there are still those who regularly give by bank standing orders or other ways in the hope of making this happen. Perhaps we can go back to having sacrificial gift days as we look to the future of our church.
About 10 years ago a number of us started collecting our loose change in empty Pringle crisp tubes for the church building, and during that time over £9,000 has been collected. I know that these days cash is not used as much to pay for our needs, but if you do use cash and wish to take the weight of lots of coins off your pocket or purse, then put your loose change into an empty Pringle tube after you’ve enjoyed eating the crisps. When it starts to get heavy, write your name on it and give it to me or leave it at the church office for me to collect. I shall be very happy to count it and let you know how much you gave. After all, “Every little helps”.
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Last week’s reflection: Not Quite What You Were Expecting by David Makanjuola
Contributed by Michael Goble; © Michael Goble