The megachurches have come up with a new way to make money: ATMs for giving. LA Times link.
It was one of Stevens Creek's three "Giving Kiosks": a sleek black pedestal topped with a computer screen, numeric keypad and magnetic-strip reader. Prompted by the on-screen instructions, Marshall performed a ritual more common in quickie marts than a house of God: He pulled out a bank card, swiped it and punched in some numbers.
The machine spat out a receipt. Marshall's $400 donation was routed to church coffers before he had found his seat for evening worship.
It certainly doesn't feel right, but I don't know why. Catering to America's fast and loose materialism? Maybe. Making a place of holiness too much like the rest of the world? Perhaps. Just another money-making scheme by one of those annoying mega-churches? Yup.
