What should we understand about generosity in a new generation?
We know about all of the shifts in communication and technology, but there are also huge changes when it comes to giving money. Younger generations often think much differently when it comes to finances and budgeting, and we should think differently as a church as well.
Teach giving. About 18 percent of college students have never stepped into a church before, and college educated people are more likely to go to church, so the stat is probably higher in the general public. If you have not grown up in church, there are many parts of worship that a person can learn how to do through observation. We follow the person next to us when we receive communion. We watch which book to pick up when it’s time to sing. We clap if the people around us clap. But there is no way to observe giving money. Checks and twenties are folded up as they go by in the plate and it’s kind of rude to look at what people give.
People have never been instructed, so they pick a number out of the air. There might be an investment banker who’s making seven figures, but she thinks an annual gift of $200 sounds fair, because she’s never been told otherwise.
