News

Georgia church adds 'ATMs for Jesus'

September 27, 2006

Los Angeles Times: In Augusta, Ga., pastor Marty Baker has brought a touch of the future to his 1,100-member congregation, Stevens Creek Community Church. The church recently installed three touchscreen "giving kiosks," which allow parishioners to tithe with the swipe of a card.

"I paid for gas today with a card, and got lunch with one," said churchgoer Josh Marshall. "This is really no different." Baker came up with the kiosk idea a couple of years ago. He had just kicked off a $3-million building drive, but noticed that few people kept cash in their wallet for the collection bag. So he began studying the electronic payment business. He designed his machine with the help of a computer programmer who attends Stevens Creek, and found ATM companies willing to assemble it for him. In early 2005, he introduced the first machine at his church. Since then, kiosk giving has gradually gained acceptance among his upper-middle-class flock. The three kiosks are expected to take in between $200,000 and $240,000 this year — about 15 percent of the church's total donations.

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