Kiosk is Coming

OK ... many of you are asking ... what?  Has Pastor Randy gone crazy (those of you who didn't already think that)?  But, upon approval by our Finance Team ... kiosk is coming!  What am I talking about?

Here is the background.  At a conference I attended a speaker asked about 1,000 people a question.  "How many of you have your checkbook?"  Five people raised their hand.  Then he asked, "How many of you have $200 in your wallet?"  Another five people.  Then he asked, "How many of you have less than $20 cash?" A solid majority.  To further make a point, I stood in line at a convenience store today and three people in front of me, all spending less than $10, used debit cards to pay for their purchase.

Fact is, the world is changed.  We are in a debit-card society and we sit in church beside people who pay most of their bills online, many of their recurring bills by automatic withdrawal and look with puzzlement at the traditional offering plate wondering what to do.

Tonight I met with the 14% Team of Good News.  The name comes from a statistic that only 14% of churches (from a survey of 1,079 churches) are exceeding their budgets.  We need to be in that 14%, not for financial reasons but because we want to do all the ministry God is calling Good News to do.  Truly, all we do ... every meeting, every plan, every expense, every move we make ... should be focused on making disciples of Jesus who know God, love God and serve God.  So ... the kiosk is coming.

The kiosk is simply a computer that allows us (any and all of us) to give online right at church ... right in the narthex ... and in the way that our current society handles their money.  It meets our people where they are and is the offering plate of this current age.  We will be able to give to a mission, the building fund, the regular budget ... and we will be able to do this in the same way we give to any cause on the planet.  We will still be able to go to the Good News website and give (we can all do this right now ... just click on online giving from the website and follow instructions ... if you get lost or confused call Leah at 850-622-9191).  But if we want to give to the Wednesday night dinner fund ... a special mission project ... an appeal for giving to a specific fund ... or just do your weekly, monthly or annual giving, you will be able to do it all right at church.

For the naysayers (there will be some) I will quote a very traditional song that has the following lyrics (words I have sung many times) "To serve this present age, my calling to fulfill).  Jesus told stories using agricultural and herdsman terminology ... He spoke to His present age.  John (in the Revelation) used the metaphoric language of Hebrew apocalyptic literature.  Paul understood that to communicate was to speak the language and step into the culture you were trying to reach.  So ... the kiosk is coming.  All I ask is your tolerance, your understanding and your willingness to allow this current generation the awesome blessing of giving to God's work in the way they do life!  Thanks for listening!  Pastor Randy