peer presure

 When I was young we didn't have air conditioning in our church, or anywhere else for that matter.  What we had were fans.  Do you remember those fans?  They were usually donated by a local funeral home.  These weren't folding fans, instead they were flat cardboard pieces sort of rectangular in shape with rounded corners, and a handle. They were fun to swish back and forth and actually did give the illusion of coolness. And fun to look at.  They usually had a picture of Jesus on one side, brown hair and blue eyes of course, and an ad for the funeral home on the other.  Now I am not suggesting we turn off the air conditioning in my church.  It keeps things very comfortable.  But I have thought of a different use for those fans or something like them.  During the pandemic I started making my donations on line, and it's so convenient that I have just kept giving that way.  There are several others who are doing the same thing.  And this is great except when the ushers come down the aisles with their collection plates it looks like no one or hardly anyone is making a donation.  What I want is a little fan I can hold up as the usher goes by, that says 'I gave on line.' I mentioned this jokingly to one of our pastors and she said one church she knows of has little laminated cards in the pew racks that people can put in the collection plates.  They have little messages printed on them like 'I give on line.' or 'I mail in my donation.'  I think this is pretty inventive but I've actually seen a better solution.  I attended a funeral in a church that was new to me, and I was interested to see that they had a fancy brass framed slot in a wall just inside the entrance with instructions to leave donations there.  When I suggested that, I was told that there is symbolism involved in the ushers carrying the donations up front; we are making a sacrificial offering.  Hummm, I'm still pondering this.