God loves a cheerful giver. I remember hearing this phrase as a child and smiling to think that my small token of several coins would make a difference to the church and the people it served. In my work as a children’s ministry director, I have been wrestling with the shift in offering collection from children since the pandemic. As I ponder how to encourage children to be faithful givers of their time, talents, and money, I admit to feeling stumped. We have a long tradition of providing each child in our church with a box of offering envelopes that are printed with cheerful designs and dated for each Sunday. The envelope lists a place to record your monetary offering as well as your offerings of time and talent. When the children gather to go to Sunday school, we collect their offerings and say the Lord’s Prayer.
Since the pandemic, however, the rates of children bringing an offering of money has dropped off. Certainly, our increasingly cashless society and online giving are a large part of this change, as is the inflation we have seen in recent years that has led to a drop in some families’ ability to give. In a casual poll, parents of children said they do not utilize cash, nor do they carry checks. The days of tactile money are gone, and with that change, there seems to be a challenge to how we introduce children to the importance of tithing.
Families give to a wider range of charitable organizations, not just to their church. People have many opportunities and options that are as easy as the click of a button on a website. But where does this leave children, and how are they learning about the joy of generosity and giving? While many families share their resources with a wide range of groups, children may not be able to participate because they do not yet have a bank account or a way to share their resources outside of a cash donation.
In talking about this issue with ministry colleagues and parents, I found that it seems to be a pervasive issue, not just teaching children about giving, but overall learning about finances. There have been several wonderful ideas to encourage children to delight in sharing and caring for others as an extension of faith.
One such idea that was shared with me is a church that created a “noisy offering” during worship. They incorporated a contraption made from piping, duct tape, and a metal can that made loud rattling noises when children threw coins into it. The nursery leader would bring a jar of change that any child could dig into for a handful of coins, no questions asked. It was a lot of fun for the kids—and honestly for the adults in the pews as well—and it made children’s giving both more public and more joyous. The noisy contraption combined with the leader’s jar of coins made the practice both fun and equitable.
In creativity and joy we can reach out to children and families to discover the love that can be shared in our giving. Rooted in the love of neighbor, we can teach children that giving is one of the most important ways to live out our faith.
