6 Ideas for an Effective Offering Moment this Easter

Tomorrow is Good Friday. Easter is Sunday. None of us expected to be celebrating these most significant of days in a virtual format. 

I know you have been scrambling to prepare meaningful services for the weekend. Can I just encourage and celebrate you? Regardless of your situation, you are pouring your heart into providing the best for your people this weekend. Thank you for all you are doing to keep ministry moving. 

I am praying for you, and cheering you on! Just imagine the celebration we will have on that Sunday when we are once again meeting together in person!

Many have been asking about the offering time during Easter services on Sunday. Here are some points for you to consider:

• First off, don’t do much differently than what you would normally do. Make it another element of worship in your online service. It is worship!
• You’ve likely already seen a huge number of guests worshipping with you online. The normal increase we see in Easter worship may already be occurring – which is terrific! You do not need to soften the offering time. Instead, invite your guests to join you as you impact the community and the world through your generosity. We invite them to join us in singing praise. We invite them to join us in prayer. We invite them to join us in hearing the Word proclaimed. Invite them to join in worship through giving should they feel led to participate.
• Conduct the offering time prior to your message. We are seeing some log off once the sermon is finished. If your offering comes after the sermon, you may be losing some people. 
• Make it a discipleship moment. Connect giving to the gospel. It is an act of worship in response to all that Christ has done for us. 
• We tend to be good at ‘giving to’ moments. Let’s keep this a ‘giving from’ moment. Giving from a heart moved in response to the amazing gospel message. 
• You don’t need a specific COVID-19 relief fund for people to give to. If you have one – great. But if not, don’t feel the need to create something. Highlight the ministries you are providing through your general fund in these days. It is amazing ministry! Creating a special fund may cause some to redirect their giving to that cause, leaving your general fund short.

During this season of uncertainty and rapidly changing recommendations, we at Generis are carefully monitoring factors which will impact giving within your ministry. 

I am offering free virtual coaching time to any of you who have questions, desire knowledge around best practices, and/or have a unique situation that you need help navigating. CLICK HERE to schedule a call.

We have compiled a tremendous list of free resources for you in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And we are adding to this almost daily so you’ll want to check back often. I’ll be sending out a couple of new resources in the next 2 weeks, so watch for those. 

As of this writing, you will find the following in the resource area:

• 6 Ways to Navigate the Offering Moment this Easter
• Quarterly Giving Statements Bundle
  • Video Teaching with Jim Sheppard, Principal, Generis
  • Quarterly Giving Statement Tools
  • Quarterly Giving Statement eBook
• CARES Act – an overview and what it means for churches and Non-Profits
• Crisis Response Mini-Series – Practical tips and ideas to help your ministry thrive in a crisis
• Stewardship and Giving through crisis – Webinar recording
• The Online Offering Moment
• And more

You can access those resources here.

I’m praying for you this Easter. May God richly bless you, your family, and your church.