A friend of mine from church shared a story with me of a small congregation in downtown Kansas City comprised in large part of homeless persons who meet together in a historic church building. As is common in many of our congregations, there was a time in their worship service designated for the offering. But because of the makeup of the congregation, there were few persons who had the financial capability to give. So the pastor, along with other leaders of the church, devised some liturgical alternatives that would allow for more people to participate.
During the offering time, it was decided that those who did not have money to give but had a song to sing, or an instrument to play, or a word to share could give that to the congregation. Can you imagine? This would never happen in the suburbs. Too awkward. Too disorganized. Too chaotic. And on top of that, what if the person was not talented? Visitors might not return.
In addition to the opportunity for guests and church members alike to share their talents, another opportunity was created for the homeless and impoverished in the congregation to take part in the offering. A large, glass vase was placed at the altar. The homeless were invited to collect nails, pieces of glass, and other dangerous objects found throughout the downtown area and bring them to service. At the designated time, they could deposit these items into the vase. While these objects had no monetary value, they represented an offering of service to God, making the world he created a safer place for all to live. When I first heard this story, I was humbled. It could be that a handful of small, dangerous objects was given with more thought and earnestness than the last check I dropped in the offering plate.
It may be that in your congregation the offering is rather run of the mill. You pass the plate, you count the dollars, and you factor those figures into the budget. The taking of tithes and offerings is definitely a good thing, and can be put to many noble ends. But this story demonstrates that there are other ways to think creatively about the offering.
Do you know of any other creative approaches that have been taken to the offering, or any other part of the worship service? Tell us the story.