The S Word # 10

THEOLOGY OF MONEY # 10

By Douglas Hambidge

ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES of retirement is in the opportunity it affords for sitting as part of a congregation and reflecting on some of the messages being sent by some of our practices, not least in the area of money and stewardship.

We have a problem. My suspicion is that, in the minds of many people, stewardship and faith are barely, if at all, related. Budgets appear. The financial screws are tightened on the congregation, and we call it stewardship. Around the month of October Anglicans take on a hunted look, because we know that the dreaded pledge card is hovering around the fringes of our worship. We look forward to November when stewardship will be over for another year.

We have a problem, and that problem is in our poor theology of money. And week by week we sent out messages that reinforce that theology. We have been taught that there is something unspiritual about money. I wonder if you have ever heard a priest say, “I don’t like to talk about money,” as if that is a sign of a deeper spirituality. Or have you ever heard a churchwarden tell the priest, “You look after the spiritual side of things, Father; we’ll look after the finances.” As if the spiritual and financial are incompatible?

                                                LET ME SHOW YOU SOME PICTURES.

Here is a large downtown church which boasts of its rich and superbly presented liturgy. Every Sunday there is an offertory procession from the sanctuary to the west end of the church to receive the offertory of the bread and wine to be consecrated. Candles and incenses accompany the procession, and a small canopy covers the elements as they are carried. It's all very solemn.  The presentation is made at the altar; the choir sings “All things come of thee O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee;” and a prayer is offered. Then, as the congregation seats itself, a server quietly and unobtrusively carries the money gifts of the people on a large brass plate to a little table in the corner of the sanctuary.

The message is clear: We must not allow money to interfere with our sacred devotions.

In another church there is no money offering at all. A plate is left on a table by the entrance and never appears during worship. It is hoped that people will give their financial gifts either as they enter or as they depart. It strikes me that this practice might encourage people to think in terms of paying for admission or registering their approval of the sermon by what they put in the plate as they leave. I doubt that is the intended message.