(RNS) — Pastor Jorge García of Gracia y Paz Covenant Church said the church received its first set of offerings this past week since it started to exclusively offer worship services online about four Sundays ago.
The Chula Vista church in San Diego County has a PayPal account, but he said parishioners never used it since they would normally provide their tithes in person during Sunday service. Some are contributing through PayPal or going to the bank to make a deposit into the church account, but many are still not offering, he said.
“Some have stopped working, and if they’re not working they don’t have money to offer,” García said. “I would hope our church could be in a position to help them.”
Gracia y Paz, which has a membership of about 50 people, including children, relies on offerings to stay afloat and pay its rent. The parish rents space from a sister Evangelical Covenant Church congregation, and Garcia recently learned their rent was forgiven for the next three months.
Rent is their biggest expenditure, and if they still had to pay for it as offerings dwindle, “we wouldn’t be able to continue,” he said.
With social distancing guidelines in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, small churches across the United States may be struggling with declining weekly tithes and adapting to virtual services. Many small churches don’t have hefty savings accounts or large annual incomes and…
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