praxistheologia.com

I was reading this article at time the other day. The short story is that churches are installing ATM machines in their lobbies. They are doing this, it seems, for two reasons. First, under new IRS regulations donations under $250 dollars require “proof” for deduction. Secondly, it seems that Generation P (plastic) congregation members, those members who have never known a life without a debit card, rarely have cash or checks to tithe. The solution these churches have hit upon, is to have paper-trail generating atm machines and credit-card tithe kiosks.
It’s interesting to consider the changing nature of money. From inherent value of traded objects –Gold, Silver etc. To items representing gold and silver –silver certificates. To items defined as wealth by executive fiat –contemporary paper currency. Finally from paper and coin currency to the 1’s and 0’s of computer-generated credit scores that supposedly represent one’s personal ability to accumulate wealth.
I wonder if e-tithe kiosks are not really a beautifully wrapped bullet. After all, if we encourage our parishioners to tithe with credit cards, do we not run the risk of encouraging people to tithe into bankruptcy?