Offering Videos

[Mod: ebbersmom]

Each Sunday one of our leadership gives an offering meditation before we take up the offering - and as you might suspect, it tends to be dry and ineffective. Does anyone have any creative ideas that they've done? We've been asked to come up with videos/dramas in lieu of someone speaking...

We have a few ideas, one being the Mastercard/Priceless idea, but I would love to hear some of your thoughts on this...

[KeithM]

We run a because you gave... series. Not set on a firm schedule but usually one or two a month. It highlights, either before the offering or during, something that the offering goes to. It could be a church ministry or an outside ministry. Just highlights, maybe an interview, certainly pictures or video.

We've found it very effective in opening the eyes of our congregation to where their offering goes.

[[Admin] PHugger]

It might be fun to tape someone putting something in the plate (hands only) and then follow it through it's journey. You could spotlight a lot of different ministries. This would help put a 'face' on the offering.



Best regards,
PCH



(post edit)
PS - Great Idea Ken!!!!!! LOL

My church back home stopped doing all traditional communion/offering meditations in our service (gasp). Really though, they weren't bad meditations, they just felt outta place in the worship service.

I'm not saying that the meditations don't have a place in a service, it just felt like we were interrupting the flow of the service for three minutes of "here's something else to ponder". And the structure of the service changes so often, that there usually is something different every Sunday. It could be a video played during service, a song by the praise team, or whatever. Whatever is done though, it all ties into the message.

[Scott]

We no longer have the traditional meditation time for the offering either. Usually there's a prayer mid-service that incorporates something about the upcoming offering ... then, during the next thing, trays are passed.

We've never done an offering video. But I like the idea of following the money and reporting how it's being used. Maybe do a video from the point of view of a dollar bill. (Put the camera in the tray, give the bill a voice, etc.)

That's kind of a cool idea.

You could stage an "offering" and place the camera in the offering plate. From there, you could track where the bill goes around the church. From the end of the pew, to the back of the church, to the financial people, to the envenlope, and then to wherever the money is being sent.

This could also be a ministry spotlight for the group of people that are responsible for taking care of the cash and coin every Sunday.

/:edit Sorry Phugger. You get credit for the idea. Maybe I should learn to read, eh??

[kerwin kanago]

Along the same theme, though maybe for a diffent application...

As I read the ideas about following the dollar around (which I LOVE), I keep thinking of the dollar being cut into pieces so a (proportional) chunk gets cut off and sent to mission, another chunk gets mailed to the power company (or stuffed into a slot on the power meter), a chunk goes to buy X, etc etc etc.

Sort of the Pie Chart concept but done with a (real?) dollar bill that was put into the plate.

MIGHT be an idea better suited to stewardship videos, or "budget interpretation" than an offering meditation...