It’d been nearly two decades since Seacoast Church last passed around an offering plate. Members at the Mount Pleasant-based megachurch typically drop funds voluntarily in offering boxes or give online, but that changed at a recent Sunday worship service when Pastor Josh Surratt announced that the church would pass around collection baskets.
But there was a catch: Instead of giving, members were instructed to take out envelopes, each containing a range of $3 to $10.
It was a “reverse offering” where church leaders put $30,000 into 5,500 envelopes and told worshipers to use the money to conduct a spontaneous act of kindness. Members were instructed not to give the money back to the church or spend it on themselves.
This occurred at all of the church’s 13 physical campuses, and those who watch services online also were invited to participate.
The purpose was to give believers an opportunity to practice generosity in creative ways. It tied into Surratt’s November sermon series, “The Blessed Life,” which sought to emphasize that “God is much more interested in our hearts than our money.”
“The only reason he cares about our money is because he knows how closely attached it is to our hearts,” Surratt said.
Jon Peavey, who first attended Seacoast in 1997, admitted he was at first confused until the pastor explained that members should take funds and use them for a greater cause.
He and his wife discovered Gospel for Asia’s Chicken and Goat Campaign, an overseas effort that enables evangelists in India to spread the gospel while also providing those in need with income-generating animals…
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