This is written for our membership that has pledged contributions to the church during the year. Over the next 4 Sundays while we practice social distancing and try out Video Worship, we need our faithful, cheerful givers to continue to send in their tithes and offerings to keep the church functioning. We are continuing to pay our staff members during this time as well as continuing to pay our bills. Not taking a Sunday offering will impact the income of the church and our ability to meet our obligations now. Here’s some ways you can continue to give while we are in this time of “apartness”.

• Drop your offering envelope off to the church between 9am and 12pm (remember not to linger too long so we limit staff exposure to illness and continue to serve others who may have business in the office).
• Put a stamp on your offering envelope and mail it in the old fashioned way!
• Use your bank’s Online Payment functionality to set up direct payments from your bank account to the church. You can set these up to be recurring and ensure your offering always reaches the church.

It’s no surprise that I (Elizabeth) am a digital girl and so I LOVE the last option. I haven’t had any checks in years, so I’m excited about getting this setup for all the time, not just this period of isolation. So, spurred by the need to get my donation there and crippled by my lack of printed checks or stamps, I set this up today and thought I’d share the steps to do so.

First – you have to have access to your bank or credit union’s online banking center. OR, you’d have to make a phone call to your financial institution. Personally, I keep all of my money at the Frankenmuth Credit Union. As other credit unions, use the same software, these instructions might also apply for other area credit unions as well.

Login to your online banking portal. (Remember to keep these login credentials safe & secure and never to share them with anyone)

Next, find an option that says to “Pay Bills”. Here’s what it looks like on my credit union site.

Then, you’ll want to add Bethany UMC as a Payee (ie the entity to receive your payment). It will probably ask you for the Name and Address. It will also probably have a place for an Account Number. You can use your Envelope Number here or your name.

Then, once your payee is created, you can just go into the Bill Pay section and schedule a one time or a recurring payment. You should be able to choose a schedule to pay on to coincide with your income or for each Sunday.

So, once you are done, you will then have your payments scheduled.

Please remember to try to keep your offerings coming into the church during this time. We will be keeping our employees paid and our bills paid but we need to all work together to continue to support the church and our mission and ministry even in these uncertain times.

If you need help with setting up a recurring payment, I’d urge you to contact your financial institution, but if you aren’t able to reach them, please feel free to phone me. I’ll certainly try to walk you through it!

Blessings,

Elizabeth