By Nick Stamatakis
A few days ago, on Saturday of Lazarus, another novelty was introduced in our Churches—this time, it goes straight where it counts: at the collection of money! No more cash to light a candle and likely no more cash in a tray going around no no the pews during the liturgy! The novelty was introduced to the Church of Our Savior of Rye, NY, by Fr. Ilias Villis, the Chancellor of the Archdiocesan District.
A quick search online proves to anyone interested that Catholic and other Churches introduced this novelty a few years ago, at least since 2018. But for us, it is still a strange novelty and is bound to raise quite a few eyebrows.
One can see the positive results of this practice, especially Helleniscope, which has spent years reporting the negative effects of counting the cash in such a big parish like Saint Demetrios of Astoria. Whoever has dealt with the history of Saint Demetrios has one main image in mind: the image of the late Nikos Andriotis sitting at a table in the basement, counting a pile of cash in front of him… Yes, all by himself – nobody would dare play “witness”… No witnesses needed… So one positive effect is obvious – no more cash handlers and cash “siphoners.” And I have heard that there are many of those around the country in GOA parishes..
I have a feeling—without having seen any practical data yet—that the introduction of credit cards will likely increase the income of the churches. I personally would rather spend a larger amount at the entrance (coming in or leaving the Church) than throwing dollar bills in trays. And I have heard similar comments from others. At the same time, we have had mixed results, mostly negative, when priests announced that passing around the tray in Church during service will stop. The reaction of parish councils was strong against it.
In the end, it seems that the new and old collection practices will have to coexist for quite some time. The “cash tradition” is very deeply entrenched in our churches, and it will take a long time to abandon it. It will definitely depend on other, more general circumstances. For example, if the government proceeds to a gradual elimination of cash, this process will accelerate.
I am sure many of you will have strong opinions on this issue. I am waiting for your ideas!
May 1, 2024, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
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BELOW YOU CAN SEE THE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE CHURCH OF RYE
Cash is going the way of the dodo bird. Most young people dont even carry cash in their pocket. Us, older folk, are accustomed to putting money in the tray. I dont see any thing other than a plus by using tap to pay.
There are those whose income is not sufficient and don’t have credit cards; this puts them in a great disadvantage in donating to church or making other purchases.
That is bad idea for cash to go out stile
Throw a wrench into the globalist AI money system the churches are creating. Do not participate in church AI money collections. Clearly tell your priest and treasurer you will not pay according to their demands. They have to accept your cash offering. Take a stand.
Τα πάντα έχουν την καλή και την
κακή τους πλευρά.
“ Ουδέν κακόν αμυγές καλού και το αντίθετο”
Το καλό είναι ότι θα υπάρχει καλύτερος έλεγχος και το κακόν ότι
σιγά σιγά εγκαταλείπεται η παράδοση,
επίσης αυτοί που δεν έχουν να πληρώσουν χοντρά, δεν θα πλησιάζουν καν την μηχανή και θα
υπάρχει απώλεια εσόδων, επιπλέον δε κατά την καταμέτρηση των δια της
κάρτας χορηγών οι υπεύθυνοι θα έχουν την δυνατότητα να ξεχωρίζουν
τους πιστούς σε Πατρίκιους και πληβείους και όχι σαν Χριστιανούς και
τα χαμόγελα και τα ξεσκονίσματα θα
είναι ανάλογα.
Η ερώτησή μου είναι αν αυτό είναι
αποκλειστική πρωτοβουλία του Ιερατικώς προϊσταμένου και της επιτροπής τοις κοινότητας η απόφαση
της ολομέλειας η ακόμη με εντολή της
Αρχιεπισκοπής;.
Εάν ισχύει το τελευταίο θα πρέπει να έχει σταλεί εγκύκλιος σε όλες τις κοινότητες.
Αν δεν έχει σταλεί εγκύκλιος , ισχύει το: “ Καλομελέτα και έρχεται” , διότι
είναι ο μόνος τρόπος για την Αρχιεπισκοπή
να ελέγχει τα έσοδα των κοινοτήτων
και να διεκδικεί ατόφιο το ανάλογο ετήσιο χαράτσι . Το αν θα
επιβληθεί παντού μένει να το δούμε ,
διότι δεν είναι τόσο απλό ούτε εύκολο
διότι οι περισσότεροι που εκκλησιάζονται είναι της τρίτης ηλικίας
δεν μεταχειρίζονται κάρτες και στο
πορτοφόλι τους υπάρχει μόνο μετρητό.
Ύστερα υπάρχουν και αετόπουλα που
το μάτι τους γυαλίζει ……. όταν βλέπουν το μετρητό.
Δύσκολα θα καταργηθεί το μετρητό,
διότι μόνο με αυτό οι Νεοταξίτες
εξαγοράζουν ηγέτες και τους κάνουν
τσιράκια τους. Είδομεν.
The Orthros Service for Holy Thursday is about Judas the thief, traitor, and lover of silver (money)…it’s a shame this orthros service was “cut out” of the “black book” in North America in favor of only Unction…maybe this is why some people are “bold” with Church money…they haven’t heard the story…
One can argue that Christ tolerated a thief among the 12 disciples, and perhaps today there is a greater statistical measurement of such “thieves” in various roles within the larger ecclesiastical organization…
Nevertheless, removing cash from the donation equation also removes anonymity, because every electronic transaction can be traced to a named donor, and that goes against our core Orthodox beliefs…
Matthew 6
1 Προσέχετε [δὲ] τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὑμῶν μὴ ποιεῖν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι αὐτοῖς· εἰ δὲ μή γε, μισθὸν οὐκ ἔχετε παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν τῷ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.2 Ὅταν οὖν ποιῇς ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ σαλπίσῃς ἔμπροσθέν σου, ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ ποιοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς ῥύμαις, ὅπως δοξασθῶσιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν.3 σοῦ δὲ ποιοῦντος ἐλεημοσύνην μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου,4 ὅπως ᾖ σου ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ· καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοι.5
Anonymous donations must remain an option within any Orthodox parish. Cash facilitates the anonymity that is advised for us by Christ Himself.
Other controls must be put into place to prevent the “long-fingered ones” from dipping their hand “into the cash bowl”… The inexpensive audit control would be to have multiple people witness, count, cross-check, and sign off on cash donations in a room that also has camera / audio recording capabilities.
Then there are some more expensive ideas…For example, there could be machines that accept, scan and count anonymous cash, and obviously record an electronic accounting transaction that “x amount” in cash was scanned, verified by the machine, much like what happens when cash is deposited at an ATM, so that auditing can be more reliable…
The government is planning a cashless society so eventually they will require a chip in our wrist or hand in order to buy & sell. We are going in that direction.
My parish presents the option to pay by credit card, but it is not mandatory. I am certain that the parish in Rye continues to accept cash as my parish does. My wife and I make weekly gifts to the parish by check. There is no need to think that some new heresy has been created.
Thank you , JK. Exactly the same in our parish and has been for a while. What the church in Rye just introduced is an established option in many parishes.
Papman, this is not an unquestionable practice as Markos in our comments explained. The darkest spot is the elimination of anonymity. Anonymity is central in Christian donation/giving. It seems to me that you have not thought out this practice completely. Or you are willing to accept modernity unquestionably. As I said both pracices will likely coincide for a while. We will have time to see some practical data and other results of applying credit cards in our churches.
If anonymity is desired by an individual, that person can place a cash gift upon entering the church. Our parish does not pass trays and we easily cover all our expenses through faithful Christian stewardship. Additionally, we do not have a festival thus keeping our parish out of the restaurant business.
I don’t understand the emphasis on anonymity. The emphasis on Christian giving is generosity not anonymity. Jesus saw what the widow gave and acknowledged her giving. Jesus also said ” let your good works be seen by all men so that glory can be given to your Father in heaven”.