I work with more than 800 mainline protestant churches in Ohio. I say the credit card issue reflects larger issues in the church: The world is not the same that it was in the 50’s. Churches that do not recognize this will die.

This is seen in changes in music styles, less formal relationships with clergy, more short-term committee assignments and the way organizations of church women operate.

If we are to be relevant in our world and reach out to people, we have to be willing to do so on their terms and this includes finances. By allowing our “customers” to pay their pledges the same way they pay many other expenses, we are saying to them that we recognize we’re not in the 50’s anymore.

What is the good of churches allowing nontraditional giving methods?

1. Fewer people carry cash or check books with them at all times.
2. Regular on-line transfers help even out giving over the year. We know that if you don’t plop it in the pew you won’t put it in the plate, so giving traditionally dips in the summer time, during bad weather and on holiday weekends.
3. Electronic transfer allows greater privacy in giving. If I write a check and put it in the plate, volunteer counters and others may see what I give. But a concise electronic statement would only be seen by the Financial Secretary who would actually record my pledge.
4. Cash and checks have to be handled. They have to be counted, counted again, prepared for deposit and driven to the bank. In an era where volunteer time is harder to come by, let’s let our volunteers focus on doing the work of the kingdom and not tie them up counting money.
5. Cash is also a safety liability. Although this is quite rare, a pile of cash can be misappropriated, and with no cash register receipt to balance against, such a theft would go unnoticed.

I believe there are many positives to churches accepting credit cards, electronic funds transfers and other “modern” ways of conducting business.

Like I said, very well-thought-out comments.  Thank you!

My original post discussed the downside of tithing with a credit card, focusing mainly on the possibility of leading congregants into financial temptation and retarding spiritual growth, while not really discussing directly the advantages that such transactions can bring to churches.  Brian lists out some of these advantages, and I agree that many congregants would appreciate the fact that giving in this way was an option.

Like anything a church does to make itself more relevant, it should do so while holding true to biblical principles. And if I would be in a church that was considering this change, and if the leadership of the church made the decision to accept credit cards after faithful prayer and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I really wouldn’t argue.  For example, if the church made training available from Financial Peace University, Crown Ministries, or some other Christian financial ministry, then that would give the opportunity to soften congregants’ hearts in order to examine their giving in the context of this new technology.

If a church doesn’t seek guidance from the Holy Spirit with regard to this, and does it for, perhaps, worldly reasons (”We need more regular giving” or “We need to encourage more giving”) then that’s where problems are more likely to crop up.  That was the context of my original post.

I do disagree on one point within item #4.  I have helped with counting the offering for quite some time, and this is the work of the kingdom just as much as taking a missions trip to Africa.  I’ve learned a lot doing this, and I have no doubt that performing this task has helped me to grow spiritually.  Besides, even if credit cards come to the offering plate, checks and cash won’t go away, and counting up the offering will still need to be done.  From my experience, counting up 50 checks doesn’t take that much more time than counting up 15 checks, because of all the other set-up and tear-down work that’s needed.

Anyway, any more thoughts on this? I’ll be happy to write about it again next week.

Got money questions? Ask them at Cash Commons

This could end up being a giant can of worms, but I’m young enough that it makes sense to at least think it through a little bit, since I may be placed in a position later where I’ll have the option of doing this.

Organizations (commercial or otherwise) accept credit cards because they anticipate getting more money by accepting payment through them.  This is for a number of reasons.  First, it may make the difference between a sale or not.  If the would-be customer doesn’t have any cash, but has a credit card, they can still complete the transaction.  Secondly, there’s enough emotional distance for many people between credit and actual cash, so average purchase amounts tend to be higher.

What about for churches?  Presumably a church would accept credit cards (or perhaps just debit cards) in order to bring in more donations or larger donations from the congregation (or perhaps one-time visitors).

But should they? That’s a very complicated question!  Here are a few thoughts:

• It could tempt congregants to shortchange God. Let’s say God laid it on someone’s heart that they were to give $100 per week for tithes and offerings.  Each week they write a check for $100 and put it in the offering plate.  Now add credit cards to the mix.  Let’s say it’s a rebate card.  The congregant now charges $100 per week, and gets a kickback of $1 in rebates from the credit card company.  That part may be fine, but the church had to pay more than that — let’s say $2 — to process that $100 charge!  As a result, the church only saw $98 of what was a $100 offering before the credit cards came around, and the congregant might be tempted into thinking that they gave $100 for the price of $99.
• It could tempt congregants to live beyond their means. Checks bounce if the funds aren’t there.  One could say that debit cards are the same way.  Charges to credit cards don’t bounce, unless the charger is really close to his limit.  I could see some faithful givers run on hard times and, fully wanting to put God first, charge a tithe because the option was there, even if it meant that they’d pay interest on that offering.  Screening possible “problem” charger-tithers and not allowing them to use the card is against the merchant account rules, so it can’t be done while maintaining the account.
• It could make the church an indirect accessory to usury. The church isn’t charging the interest, of course, but if a donation comes in, the cardholder pays interest on that donation, and something happens that causes the cardholder’s rate to go to the default rate (or even before that), this could be usury.
• It could rob regular givers of the joy of giving. If credit cards come online, then recurring credit card payments follow soon after.  The action of putting a check in the offering plate each week is an act of worship, which is something that is lost with a recurring charge to the credit card.

Credit card payments for tithes are already here. This post wasn’t about whether you can tithe on your credit card, but whether you should.  I think credit card donations in church will become more widespread, but I don’t like where it can lead.

Is there a flip side to all of this?  I see the bad, but what about the good?

Got money questions? Ask them at Cash Commons

First off, Happy Independence Day to my American readers.  Happy July 4th to others.

Gary North’s Tip of the Week (subscribe for free in the upper right of this page) was on outsourcing.  He doesn’t plan to ever mow his lawn himself, because the net cost would be a loss.  He values what he can accomplish in those couple of hours higher than what it would cost him to have someone else mow his lawn.

The answer is easy for him because counting the cost for him is easy.  But what about for people who aren’t as productive now?  Do you outsource in that case?

Counting the cost is more complicated in this case.  Mowing your own lawn, making your own meals, clipping coupons, hitting yard sales, and the like are little money-saving things, but they all take time, which is irreplaceable.

Some questions that might be good to ask if the answer isn’t clear what to do:

• Do you have a clear vision where you’re going? If this is not the case, counting the cost really doesn’t have much meaning anyway.  No one can answer this except you.  Aside from just not having one, another indication of lack of clear vision is having a lot of projects that aren’t really going much of anywhere.  It is time to cut out the losers.
• Are you having trouble making your bills? If this is the case, then a good use of your time is making the money, and reducing expenses, to keep on top of your bills.  Not doing so has clear costs:  late fees, higher interest rates both for not making payments and as the result of a low credit rating.  If these things happen, they will postpone the grander legacy you have in mind.
• Are you in fair shape financially, but not good enough shape that you don’t really have to worry? This is where it gets trickier.  You can free up more time by paying to get things done that don’t directly contribute to your legacy.  The more of these activities you pay for, the more you can accomplish with the finite amount of time you’re given.  But, the more this costs — there’s the rub.  Do you sacrifice the appearance of present financial security to go full-bore at something great, or take up some of that time keeping a good financial cushion and work your legacy more slowly?  This brings about lots more questions, like whether your family is behind you, what other expenses or commitments are down the road, etc.  A silver lining to the recession, by the way, is that hiring out some activities now can be cheaper because business are hungrier for work now.

Happy cost counting!  Here’s to moving in the right direction.  Half the year is ahead of us!

Got money questions? Ask them at Cash Commons

Once the electricity is shut off, there is usually a reinstatement fee in addition to back charges, so keeping the power on if at all possible is preferable to letting it lapse, not just for comfort and standard of libing, but financially as well.

In going through a few cases I’ve learned a couple of ways to help keep the power on if it’s about ready to be cut off:

• Make payment arrangements with the power company. This may or may not work, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.  If the time for shut-off is approaching and a lot of money is owed, they may accept smaller installment payments and keep your power on.  It’s not a free ride but it can possibly save the extra cost of turning it back on.
• Find a church or other organization that can pledge payment to the company. Our church is able to do this.  We can call the power company on behalf of someone right before the power is to be shut off, say that we’ll pay the amount needed to keep it on, and they’ll keep the power running even if they receive payment after the cutoff time.  This gives a small amount of extra time before cut-off.

These are the tips I’m aware of.  I’d like to hear others if you know of any!

Got money questions? Ask them at Cash Commons

And just like the parents’ church, the children’s church has an offering.  Our four-year-old daughter asked for money to give in the offering.

When my wife told me this, it didn’t take too long for me to ask if it was the right time for some kind of allowance.  (Aside from the fact that I was very happy that my daughter thought to ask us.  This is a good sign, I think!)

Now, I didn’t receive an allowance until I was quite a bit older, but I’m wondering about what kind of message it sends to my daughter to give money to her to put into the offering without also instilling that it comes out of what we have (or, more precisely, what God has given us stewardship over).  Hence the allowance: to keep the math easy, 50 cents a week, 5 of which goes to the offering, some of which goes into savings (or groceries?) and the rest that she can spend or save as she wants.

Maybe I’m overthinking this, and I should just be thankful that my daughter wants to give at church.  Still though, part of me wonders if she wants to give mainly because everyone else around her is giving, and needs a little more appreciation of what she’s doing.

Any thoughts?

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• Did I read (or listen to) my Bible that day? Yes or no, aiming for every day.  (I’ll explain the “listen to” addition below.)
• Did I exercise for at least 30 minutes that day? Yes or no, aiming for three times per week.

I purposely did not set any financial goals initially and instead purposed the Bible goal to help me gain wisdom in how to proceed that way.  So far this month we’ve had a lot of out-flow, but we’ve also had unexpected in-flow of funds, so I know that God is helping us through our current expenses. What’s more, I won a copy of H&R Block TaxCut Premium Federal tax preparation software from not one, but two personal finance bloggers this month!  (ChristanPF was able to give his copy to someone else.)

So far I’ve kept to my goals pretty well.  Tonight, after reading a post on Lifehacker I checked out a new (free) tool called Joe’s Goals that does exactly what I need.

It was a painless signup process, and I was able to put all of my hand-written data for the year thus far in the tool in about five minutes.  Now that things are set up, I go to the site once a day, click a couple of boxes (if I did both things that day) and I’m done!  It’s that easy.  What’s more, I’ve set my account to send me an e-mail if I don’t log in within two days of my last login, so I’m less likely to forget about it.  JoesGoals.com is very simple and very effective!

Oh, I was going to explain why I changed my first goal to “read or listen to the Bible each day.”  A few weeks ago I was in Costco and ran across the Zondervan NIV Audio Bible.  It’s a dramatized reading of the complete Old and New Testaments on sixty-four CDs.  I bought it sight unseen (sound unheard?) and was pleasantly surprised.  The background music isn’t annoying and the narration isn’t cheesy.  I’ve already gotten a lot out of it, and it’s been very effective at helping me to get the big picture.  Plus, it gives me a way to use my commute effectively.  I’ll go beyond listening, but for now I’m counting it as spending time in the Word.

Incidentally, the Lifehacker post also mentions using Mint.com to track financial goals, so I may need to revisit using that.  So, there you go.  It may be a bit early to ask but how are your goals going for this year? How do you keep track of your progress?

Got money questions? Ask them at Cash Commons

When she lost her wallet about a week ago, one of the cards in her wallet was a Starbucks card that still had about seven bucks on it.  Slightly annoying, but nothing that would break the bank.

Enter God’s economy.  In Philippians 4:19 the apostle Paul writes: “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  There’s no mention of how specifically needs are met, only that they will be met.  (In any case, the fact that we “have” anything at all is because God lets us use it; everything, including us, is His.)  The books may not be balanced immediately, or in a way that we expect.  Further, if it’s not a true need (food, water, clothing, shelter) then it isn’t obligated to be part of the equation, but this doesn’t preclude it from being part of the equation.

Despite objections from die-hard coffee drinkers like myself, Starbucks probably is not a true need.  Nonetheless, God revealed His economy this way in the past week:

• Someone gave my wife a Starbucks card that they couldn’t use anymore.  My wife was getting her YMCA ID card replaced, and in the process was explaining why she needed it replaced.  During the conversation she recounted that she had barely broken in her Starbucks card before she lost it.  Well, one of the people standing there had had to give up caffeine from some medical condition, and gave her the card she had in her wallet because she couldn’t really use it anymore.
• Costco started selling discounted Starbucks cards.  In the checkout line Sunday they had an advertisement posted: “Five $20 Starbucks gift cards for $79.99.”  Well, all right then!
• My wife’s wallet was recovered!  On Friday we got notice that someone had turned in her wallet.  We don’t know yet what was left in the wallet, but God might give her other card back, too.

Got money questions? Ask them at Cash Commons

What is the smallest emergency fund with which you would be comfortable?

I said “75 years” with a wink. But I knew that I wasn’t winking on the inside.

Embracing a cover-all-contingencies mentality isn’t productive and that’s what I was doing in part with that comment. It All I can do — or all anyone can do, really — is prepare for what we can, because there’s no way to cover for all contingencies.

Forget it. Next question!

That realization hurts. It can immobilize, like after I read Kunstler’s The Long Emergency. I was depressed for a couple of weeks after finishing that book.

As it turns out, peak oil is just one Really Bad Thing that’s going to turn our lives upside down. How about these?

• Peak water
• Insolvency of the banking system
• Irreversible climate change
• Food shortages and disruption of distribution
• Hyperinflation
• Recession or depression
• War with Iran
• AIrborne anthrax
• Cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria

A 75-year emergency fund doesn’t do a darn bit of good if I’m dead, or if I can’t buy the food I need to keep from becoming dead.

Worrying about all of these things is insane, and I don’t worry about all of these things. I know they exist, and I know how to prepare for some of them. I shuffle my investments around based on this information. I lose weight. I plan to buy a little extra food. I save to snap up bargains.

I’m not willing at the moment to prepare for all of them, but that’s just a calculated risk. I plan for what I can, accept the rest, and pray, because ultimately God is in control. Being thankful that things are still as good as they are helps, too.

An emergency fund is good to have, but a 75-year emergency fund is overkill. Fifty is plenty.

Got money questions? Ask them at Cash Commons

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

Every six months our church’s congregation votes on the budget for the next six months. The church always had an Elijah Barrel fund. It had stayed the same for several years, so I asked those in charge how they arrived at the amount for the Elijah Barrel. They had originally put enough aside to cover one month’s expenses, which was fine; things would have to get really tough for them to dip into this fund.

After I asked whether the Elijah Barrel still met this criterion, they decided to put more in. Inflation takes its toll on everything, and we had also taken on an assistant pastor, so the payroll obligations were higher. The elders reconsidered the amount of their emergency fund, and adjusted the amount to reflect the current expenses.

Revisiting how much you have in your personal emergency fund is also a good thing to do.  If you were wise and set one up, that’s great.  How long ago?  If it was  more than a year ago, what has changed in your life with regard to your expenses?  Was a child born?  Did you take on an investment property or a car loan?  Have other sources of funds dried up or depreciated to the point that they won’t cover your expenses should you need them?

Basically, will your emergency fund last as long as it did when you set it up?  If not, examine the amount to see if it needs adjusting.

The tax tip from my pastor wasn’t Matthew 22:21 — “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” — though there’s no doubt that one could avoid a lot of problems by following those words.

His advice boiled down to this:  Do your taxes with someone.

He was recounting how much he hated filling out financial aid forms for his college-aged children, and how he came up with just about every excuse in the book to postpone them to the last minute.  This year he tried something different.  He filled out the financial aid forms with them, and did their taxes with them, pretty quickly.  Doing the work with someone else takes the drudgery out of it, and also offers an opportunity to relate with the other person.  (Hour after hour of money talk shouldn’t be without an occasional rabbit trail.)  Any opportunity to get to know your loved ones better is a good thing; getting your 1040 out in record time is the icing on the cake.

Who would have thought tax time could help your relationship with your family?