Word: churchful
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Beginning with gifts given in 2007, the IRS will demand documentation for charitable contributions under $250. Once, all one needed was a diary entry to vouch for such donations. Specially designed ATMs at church will help document such spur-of-the-moment cash gifts, as well as planned giving. Also as a result of the new IRS rule, credit card donations and tithing are likely to increase too because such electronic fund transfers leave a paper trail...
Automatic checking account withdrawals are used by some churches, and more recently, ATM-like kiosks are now available in many church corridors and lobbies, where parishioners can swipe a card and receive a printed receipt, which they can either save for the IRS or plunk into the collection basket with a flourish, so pew mates will know they're not spiritual freeloaders...
...card-swipe kiosks were a brainchild of Dr. Marty Baker, pastor of Stevens Creek Community Church in Augusta, Georgia. They were so successful in his own church that he now markets the devices privately and has placed them in 35 congregations across the U.S. "People don't carry cash," he says, noting that total income from contributions has increased 18% since the first kiosk was installed in 2005. Coins and paper money now account for less than 5% of that total...
...kiosk received a thumbs down. "The Cathedral is more of a historical church and the current rector is not too anxious to incorporate ATMs," said a diocese staff member. "We are all aware that it will probably happen in the future, but for now, we are not interested in participating...
When the evangelical website MondayMorningInsights.com - which boasts more than 12,000 pastors as readers - reported on the phenomenon, the story received 4,300 hits and generated highly emotional responses. "How would you feel if someone in your church was giving and giving on credit and you later find they have to declare bankruptcy," said one from Eric. "I guess it wouldn't matter because you're not your brother's keeper - huh?" To deal with that problem, many churches now accept only debit cards...