Develop a Discipleship System
SPARK: Tapping in Church?
By Ken Sloane
Bridget and I just returned from an amazing trip to England. The largest portion of the trip was participating in the 2024 Wesley Pilgrimage sponsored by Discipleship Ministries. We also tacked on a week before the pilgrimage to be tourists in London. I took only about 3,000 pictures. Want to see them?
One of the things that amazed us on our trip was that everywhere we went, people were tapping! They were tapping in grocery stores, tapping in restaurants, tapping on buses and trains, tapping on busy streets! They were tapping at afternoon tea and even at church!
Confused? Dancing with little metal pieces on their shoes? No, not that kind of tapping. They were tapping their phones, their watches, and their credit cards. This is the way finance is being done in the UK. We saw it in every restaurant, theater, pub, or store we entered. Digital money is being used. Some places have even stopped accepting cash.
Confused? Dancing with little metal pieces on their shoes? No, not that kind of tapping. They were tapping their phones, their watches, and their credit cards. This is the way finance is being done in the UK.
We traveled about London, paying for public transportation by tapping our Apple Watches on the turnstiles of the Underground or the bus. We were eager to visit some famous street markets in London. Our short-term rental home was right off Portobello Road, which holds a great street market almost every day. We bought everything from produce to baked goods to clothes to hats to artwork! And for everything we bought, we tapped!
We visited many churches as we followed the life journeys of John and Charles Wesley, founders of the Methodist movement. We saw large cathedrals and cozy little chapels, and every one of them had a terminal to tap and give!
For churches that already offer electronic giving options, offering “tap-to-give” is not a difficult next step. Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay are set to become the most popular online payment methods in 2024. Now may be the time to get ahead of the curve with “tap to pay” for your church. Accept “tap to pay” donations via physical debit and credit cards or seamlessly through Apple Pay and other digital wallets using device-to-device payments. A good way to introduce people to this idea is to introduce it as a digital alternative alongside the “donation basket” at the coffee hour or covered dish or for a special activity like ordering plants for Easter and Christmas. Be available to help people get past their anxieties. If folks are resistant to change, be sure to have people available who can answer their questions and help them get past their anxieties to see how easy and convenient “tap-to-give” can be!
Then let’s get tapping!
Ken Sloane is the Director of Stewardship & Generosity for Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church.
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