I realized Sunday that I had not explained why I decided to move the offering time in the worship service to the end. Well, here are a few of the reasons.
1. It reminds us that giving is an act of worship.
No matter where you place the offering in the service we should remember that it is not an interruption of worship, but a continuation of worship. By having the offering at the end we allow people to respond in a tangible way to the entire worship experience.
2. It allows people to respond to the invitation we give at the end of the service by using the Communication Card.
Each week we offer an invitation for people to come to the front of the church and make public their decision for Christ. Some come to receive Christ as Lord and Savior, some come to join the church, and some come to let me know what Christ has led them to do in response to the sermon. However, some people get nervous when they think about coming down to the front in public. The Communication Card gives them an easy way to let me know about the decision God has led them to make so I can follow up with them later. By moving the offering to the end I can encourage people to use the offering plate to get their Communication Card to me. (By-the-way, “walking an aisle,” as we put it, is a fairly new practice in the church’s 2000-plus year history. Baptism, not walking an aisle, is a person's public profession of faith.)
3. It gives our decision counselors more time to assist people with their decisions before we present them to the church.
4. It is just fun to get out of our routine occasionally and do something new for God!
Thanks for being such a wonderful group of people to pastor. You are a blessing to me!
