A bunch of us have been asking the question, now that Sunday morning worship is paused, how do we continue to give to the church? Most of our income happens because people come to worship and place their gift in the offering plate. “What should we do now?” we’ve asked, since we need to stay physically away from worship during the Covid-19 crisis. There are a lot of ways you can still give, but let me say, first, that I realize many of you are entering a time of extreme financial uncertainty. Many have been laid off from work or are wondering how they’ll pay bills without the certainty of income. If that is you, you can give to the church through your prayers and care you show to others. You can contribute by giving a phone call, a note, an email, or a prayer for one in our congregation. That attention and care is an extraordinary gift, one we all can give.
For the rest of us though, who are able to give financially, here are a few ways you can do it. If you use online banking, you can set up the church as a recipient. With my bank, whenever I’m paying my bills online, I also take care of my monthly gift to the church. My bank then automatically generates a check that comes to the church through the mail. If you’re not an online banking type of person, you can still write a check and put it in the mail to us. Many of you already do one of these two options already, so I’m preaching to the converted here. One more way to give is through an online service called Givelify. We’ve recently set up an account through Givelify, and if you download the app to your smartphone you can easily find us there to donate to the church through the Givelify app. You can also access Givelify through your computer if you follow this link: https://giv.li/cv3bky . The service takes a small percentage of the gift as a processing fee, so keep that in mind as you give, but we want to encourage giving in as many ways as possible.
I’ve said this before, I’m regularly humbled by the fact that the church does its work through the sacrificial generosity of its people. We have a vital faith community at Hazelwood. Let’s continue to give to it at this time.
~Jason Jones
