As more and more people use their cell phones for financial transactions, it seems possible to also make a contribution that way. We already have giving kiosks; why not cell phone giving? The technology is there, but how do we take advantage of it?

Suppose a majority of the congregation wanted to give via their cell phones. Why couldn’t we announce the giving period as the offering time. Then, at the end of the offering, we could display a dynamic count of the total. This would do two things:

• People would see their gift tallied in real time, so they would know that it got there.
• The congregation could celebrate the achievement of a giving goal – e.g. for a new Habitat house.

I know some of you think this is far-fetched, but the technology is right around the corner. This is just one way to take advantage of it for the benefit of the mission of the Church. What other ways can you think of?