In my work with churches, I am occasionally asked about taking an offering during Christmas Eve and Easter services. Should a church, on a Sunday when many if not most of the people in attendance will only be there once or twice year, ask for money? Is it better to set the offering aside on those days? Is it a missed opportunity (both financially and spiritually) if you don’t have an offering on Christmas Eve?

While at the Presbyterian Foundation we aren’t in the business of telling churches what to do, I do think these sorts of questions can open the door to a deeper consideration around church offering, what is it, and why does it matter. I want to suggest that an invitation to the offering on Christmas Eve and Christmas might be the most appropriate time to offer such an invitation if only because we know the most effective and compelling invitations are ones that draw on a sense of gratitude and hope. And what words summarize Christmas better than gratitude and hope?

In our reformed tradition we have an order of worship in which the offering falls in the section of the service focused on “response.” We gather, we hear the Word, we are invited to respond, and then we are sent back out into the world. The offering traditionally happens in that third portion of the service when we are invited to respond. Having heard the good news, the faithful are then invited to do something. Sometimes we are invited to the communion table. And in almost every church we are invited to make an offering.

I want to suggest that this invitation can be an opportunity, especially on Christmas Eve, for you to let people know that this isn’t just a fundraising appeal on a Sunday when the sanctuary might be more full than normal. What if, instead of having the pastor offer a typical call to the offering you invited a ruling elder or other trusted person to stand up and briefly (less than two min) share how their experience of Advent and Christmas, and the work of the church, is directly tied to the gifts we bring?

This wouldn’t be just an appeal for dollars, but it would be a moment of personal testimony reflecting on the gratitude and hope that comes from the miracle of Christmas, as well as pointing toward the work happening in and through a particular congregation. Such an invitation might look something like this (I’ve made up details about a particular church and a program for sake of illustration):

Good morning Church. As we gather on this Christmas Eve celebrating the hope that we have in the promise of resurrection, I am reminded of some of the ways that hope is lived out at FPC. Many of you know about our “back pack program” where we help make sure kids at our local elementary school have nutritious food to eat each and every weekend. My husband and I join many of you on Thursday mornings to pack those bags, and to pray for the kids who will carry them home each Friday. This work happens at FPC because of you. And because of the support you give to this place. Thank you for that support. And, on this Christmas Eve, I want to invite you continue to support the work and worship of FPC so that the hope we all have, might be shared across our community. So as the ushers come forward I want to invite you to be generous in response of all that we celebrate the birth of Emmanuel, God With Us!

That is just an example of one way you might consider having someone other than the pastor offer a moment of testimony, connecting the work of the Church, with the hope we have in the promise of Advent, with the passing of an offering plate. Those connections can be powerful and effective on so many levels. An invitation rooted in the promise of Christmas and connected to the work of the church might be the very thing that folks need to hear this Christmas Season.