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The three minutes before you receive the offering at your church are incredibly important. Craft the experience with the same intentionality you give the core message for the service. Making sure the “offering talk” is done well every week will boost your ministry’s resources and ensure people understand this vitally important aspect of your church service. We’re convinced that the offering talk needs to be a core element of your weekend services, so we’ve provided a bunch of resources to help you improve it:

• 8 Elements of Effective Offering Talks (plus 8 example scripts!)
• 6 Common Problems with Offering Talks and How to Fix Them
• 14 Reasons Why Pastors Avoid Talking About Money

A well-done offering talk will increase the generosity culture at your church over time. Sprinkle lots of examples of how people’s giving makes a difference to the mission of the church and load it with thanks for people choosing to give to the church. After you’ve done this for a while, you might look for new ways to add variety and increase the impact of these crucial moments in your service. For example, why not add a thank-you video from an organization that your church supports?

Here’s an example of a highlight video that Liquid Church added to their services as a monthly part of the offering talk. Whoever is hosting the service calls the ushers forward to receive that morning’s tithes and offerings and then explains briefly that when you give to the church, you’re supporting our community because we give back to other great organizations that make a difference. The host introduces a video from a partner who wants to say a few words to the church … and then the video rolls!

Special Olympics // Offering Talk Example Video

4 Benefits of Offering Talk Partner Videos

• Third-Party Endorsement // These videos contain a “thank you” from a leader who isn’t part of your church. That endorsement is powerful for people to hear. The video makes it clear what a great church you are from an outside perspective and highlights the difference your partnership makes. It helps create positive feelings because everyone loves to be part of something that’s helping others!
• See the Mission in Action // When these videos are done well, they “transport” people so they can see the mission in action. People are motivated because they can envision how giving to your church will make a huge difference in your community. Ideally, you would pair shots of people from your church volunteering with these partners to make the connection even deeper!
• Helps the Visual Learners // All of your offering talks and announcements need to contain a strong visual element. Well-done slides or a prop work nicely but these videos are visually rich representations of how people’s giving to your church is making a difference in the community. We live in a post-literate society and communicating through compelling video with great supporting footage (so it’s not just a “talking head”) is critical to its impact.
• Social-Media Ready // When was the last time you shared your offering talk on Facebook? Right? These elements are perfect for sharing across all your social media channels in addition to during the service because they tell a “good news” story about your church to the community.

New York City Relief Bus // Offering Talk Example Video

5 Elements of Effective Offering Talk Partner Videos

• Short // These videos are a single element of the offering talk so they need to be around a minute or less in length.
• Partner-Driven // The “star” of the video is a leader from your partner. Get them in front of your church.
• B-Roll // Use lots of footage that shows the mission in action … think variety and energy!
• Thank You // The leader needs to give a very clear “thank you” from them to your church … for giving and for volunteering if it’s applicable.
• High Energy // Keep the energy high and lively. People should clap after the video is done, which is great energy going into the offering!

Eric Johnson House // Offering Talk Example Video

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