Churches Take To Internet In Search Of Weekly Donations

The Christmas season is a time when Roman Catholics flood their churches in droves to honor the birth of Christ. A far afterthought in all the praise and worship is the higher-than-usual volume of money the church incurs at this time.

Sadly, some "seasonal churchgoers" do not give the church a second thought until the Easter season approaches. Others must work all season and are unable to attend mass on Saturdays and Sundays with some form of regularity. Whatever the circumstance, church donations constantly suffer during non-holiday periods.

But not any more.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati has now implemented a way for devout Catholics to donate to the church without having to be physically present in the building. A total of 230 parishes and 110 parochial and diocesan schools all across Ohio will offer online donating options. (Source: usatoday.com)

The Archbishops who are experimenting with the policy are hoping that the new method will put an end to the old mantra: "I can't attend church this week; I would have contributed had I been there!"

The new hi-tech donation system also comes as a response to the visible changes in social behavior. Never before has so few people carried cash with them, in favor of credit and ATM cards. People are now able to be as generous as they wish, without seeing the actual exchange of money.

A number of churches in St. Louis are already using the online charity method, while parishes all over Georgia and California have ATM machines located inside the church.

The Cincinnati program was created as part of the Catholic Ministries Appeal, which funds programs such as the seminary, priest retirements and Catholic Social Services. (Source: boston.com)

An average of 2.5 to 4 cents from each dollar donated will be used to pay fees incurred through online collections, such as maintenance of the secure site used to collect donations.

The online donations were never meant to replace the traditional method of church collection; baskets will continue to circulate at a designated interval during the mass.