As the collection basket goes around the pews at Catholic church services, more and more parishioners just let it go by.
Instead they're saying, charge it!
The trend toward taking donations via credit card or electronic bank deduction is sparking some debate among officials at the three archdioceses that serve the suburbs, as well as those of some other faiths. Many are divided on the notion of encouraging the flock to put Sunday collections on plastic.
St. Anne Parish in Barrington is the latest Catholic church in the Chicago Archdiocese to offer the monthly credit-card option to replace weekly gifts. Roughly 100 of 3,800 registered families have signed up since the launch last month.
"We have seen a growing trend of people who prefer to give monthly," said Joe Kelsch, director of business and operations at St. Anne.
At St. Mary parish in Buffalo Grove, Pastor Marc Reszel reminded his flock last month that airline miles or points can be earned through charging donations. While just a few parishioners charge their donations now, St. Mary intends to make a formal push for credit-card giving next year.
Proponents of offerings through credit cards and electronic money transfers say they provide steadier income for churches and make life easier for donors.
However, critics are particularly alarmed about the movement toward church tithing on credit, saying it might cause some givers to sink deeper in debt.
Gail McCusker, business manager at St. Theresa parish in Palatine, said she sees no need to deviate from the traditional cash and check offerings parishioners place in envelopes.
"They work very well," McCusker said. "They send them or bring them to church."
Just 10 of 370 parishes in the Chicago Archdiocese allow credit-card giving, but another 50 have made inquiries recently, said Tim Dockery, the archdiocese's director of developmental services. He said research shows income rises when churches take credit cards.
Dockery said many parishioners prefer to donate with a credit card over electronic bank transfers so all of their expenses are on one statement.
Last year, the Chicago Archdiocese, which covers 2.4 million Catholics in Cook and Lake counties, selected ParishPay as a service churches could use for electronic donations. New York-based ParishPay handles monthly deductions from bank and credit-card accounts.
St. Anne's credit-card option was a natural evolution after offering automatic deductions from bank accounts, Kelsch said. ParishPay, which lets donors change the fixed amount of money they give, will be used for the electronic collections.
Convenience is a valid reason for churches to pursue credit-card donations, St. Mary business manager Dan Suffoletto said. He said about 15 percent of 400 families already charge their children's tuitions at St. Mary grade school, with many seeking the credit-card benefits.
"If you pay $2,000 for tuition and you get 2,000 miles, that's a lot of miles," Suffoletto said.
Chicago's St. Clement Church in Lincoln Park is believed to have been the first in the area to begin accepting credit-card donations - 10 years ago. Now, most of St. Clement's 3,000 members use some form of electronic contributing, said Nancy Schwider, director of parish operations.
"I'm surprised it's taken the others so long," Schwider said.
Many suburban Catholic churches outside the Chicago Archdiocese's jurisdiction won't be accepting credit cards any time soon.
With a flock of 418,891 Catholics in an archdiocese that includes Kane and McHenry counties, the Archdiocese of Rockford has just one church that's taking credit-card contributions, St. Margaret Mary in Algonquin.
Dave Hougan, stewardship development director for the Rockford Archdiocese, said he isn't sold on the idea of credit-card offerings.
"There is a spirituality about gift-giving during Mass that I still think we want to link with the Eucharistic celebration," Hougan said.
Joliet Archdiocese spokesman John Cullen said there is no talk about expanding the weekly collection plates for credit-card gifts. Parishes in DuPage and Will counties are part of the Joliet Archdiocese that covers 620,363 Catholics.
More and more churches across the country are encouraging electronic giving, particularly through credit cards. In the Catholic faith, for example, the 500,000-member Archdiocese of San Jose, Calif., struck a deal with ParishPay in September 2002 to handle electronic donations.
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America also has linked with ParishPay.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans established an electronic donation system in 1998, but it doesn't include credit cards. Nearly 5,000 of 18,000 Lutheran congregations are equipped to receive electronic offerings from bank accounts, said Lori Goudreau, Thrivent's community program developer.
Lutheran leaders are expected to reconsider whether to accept credit cards. Goudreau said there are reasons not to encourage credit-card donations.
"There are many well-intentioned people who have problems with credit-card debt," Goudreau said.
At least one major religious organization's top official is speaking out against churches tapping into Americans' eagerness to use credit cards.
Jack Wilkerson, the Southern Baptist Convention's vice president for business and finance, said giving is an act of worship, not a way to earn airline miles on a credit card.
Technology has a place at the Southern Baptist Convention, Wilkerson said, but not for any form of electronic giving.
However, proponents argue cash and checks are not any more pure than other forms of financial donations.
Dockery said the way worshipers contribute something of value to their church has changed over time.
"It's not like 200 years ago when I would have brought a goat and some wheat to church as the fruits of my labor," he said.
Despite embracing new ways to pay, Dockery said he wasn't willing to bite on a company's proposal to install an ATM-like device in Chicago Archdiocese church vestibules that would have accepted weekly offerings.
"We just didn't think that was appropriate," he said.