New option keeps you tithing even when away
___By Ken Walker
___Kentucky Western Recorder
___MOUNT WASHINGTON, Ky. (BP)--When his mother checked into a nursing home, Travis Collins was pleased the short-term rehabilitation didn't interrupt her giving to First Baptist Church of Mount Washington, Ky.
___The 81-year-old member is one of nearly 20 people or families who have signed up this year for automatic checkbook deductions to contribute to the budget.
___"That's one less thing she has to worry about," said Collins, pastor of the Kentucky congregation. "What we're trying to do is facilitate the giving of offerings."
___The Kentucky church has joined a trend toward electronic tithing. While the numbers aren't clear, a suburban Minneapolis firm that processes such payments for 3,200 churches sees a growing interest.
___"The momentum is clearly there," said Len Thiede, senior account manager for Vanco Services. "We're getting contracts every day. We're seeing a huge influx right now, with 2001 stewardship campaigns going on."
___It isn't clear how many are involved. An article last year in Leadership Journal estimated 5 percent of all U.S. churches use electronic transfers.
___But since then, one automated giving plan among Lutheran churches has seen a 517 percent increase in participation, with about 3,100 currently enrolled. Because so many churches go through their banks, accurate estimates of overall numbers are tough to determine, Thiede said.
___However, so many people pay utilities, insurance and other bills by computerized transfers that using it for tithes and offerings is second nature, he said.
___While Lutherans and Catholics are Vanco's leading customers, about 90 have a Baptist affiliation, ranking the group third.
___"A lot of churches are signing up because their people are asking for it," he said. "Word gets around that it does work."
___Several Southern Baptist churches that have implemented automated giving report their members have been slow to embrace the new method.
___Only about 20 families--out of an average Sunday attendance of 800--have signed up at Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury since the fall of 1998.
___Minister of Education and Administration Brian Hill said the option began as an experiment that has worked out very well. He estimates 90 percent of the participants are senior adults. They like its convenience and the feature of continuous giving while they're traveling, he said.
___"Those who are using it wouldn't have it any other way," said Hill, who plans to publicize the program more actively next year. "What it could change is the work at the church (office). There's a lot less to deal with. You don't have to deal with an envelope, and we get a report once a month, which is a lot cleaner."
___Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., had eight families choose an automated giving option after it was launched. But since then, financial secretary Betsy Neill said, no one else has expressed interest.
___"The people who are using it like it," she said. "A few others said they thought about it, but never got around to it. I would recommend it because it's not that much more bookkeeping."
___According to a recent report in the New York Times, one church in New Jersey discovered those giving electronically donate an average of $277 a month. That compared to $111 for those using traditional methods.
The Baptist Standard
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