The offering as a worship experience?

This past Sunday I attended a church other than my own in order to hear a friend preach. The church where he was speaking was a predominately African American congregation. It was a joy to participate in this powerful time of worship.

When it came time for the collection of the offering, I was struck by the reverence and true act of worship the process became. The ushers began the collection process by passing the plate from the rear of the sanctuary and working towards the front as the organ gently played. Once all the offering had been collected, the ushers and pastor gathered in a small circle and prayed over the gifts that had been given. It was a simple act, but the entire process truly reflected the importance of this act of worship and stewardship. And oddly enough, I was more than just amazed. I was a bit ashamed.

You see in my home church (and many others I have attended) the collection of the tithes and offerings has doubled as a time for ‘commercial’ announcements, the showing of videos and slides from other activities, or a time for special music. It never occurred to me that in doing these alternate activities during the passing of the plate that my home congregation was unintentionally diminishing the importance of the offering as an act of worship.

As I reflected, I wondered how my congregation (or others) might react if during another act of worship, say during the sacraments of Communion, we showed a video of the latest youth activity. Would people be offended or think we had diminished the importance of the communion worship experience? Why is giving of the tithes and offerings, another Spiritual discipline, any less important?

So I ask, shouldn’t we then focus our efforts in the planning and implementation of the collecting of the offerings to be a true worship experience that recognizes the importance of the act of giving instead of trying to multi-task other activities into the same segment in order to save time?