Putting an offering into a collection plate at church isn’t a new concept. But giving church members money back from the collection plate, well that’s not something you see everyday. That is unless you’re a member of Access Church.
“We told everyone about it Sunday morning and as they were leaving we gave every person, moms, dads, adults kids, everybody, $10,” said Access Church Pastor Jason Burns.
Burns says the goal was to give everyone who attended $10, in exchange for their promise to bless someone with it. We’re talking almost a thousand people.
“One of the things I told people, I said do not spend this on yourself. This is not for you and a friend to get a Big Mac, this is for you to be a blessing to someone else,” said Burns. “I said that’s God’s money so don’t mess with it.”
For church member Stew Fagans it was a challenge he was ready to accept.
“We got $40 in total for our family. We got that and we thought, well if our church is that generous and we are the church in essence, we can at least match that for each person," said Fagans. "So we decided to double it.”
With double the money Fagans and his wife decided to bless a family in need with a decorated Christmas tree and a few gifts underneath.
“It’s indescribable. Just because you think that you’re doing something good and when in reality, you feel blessed at the same time,” said Fagans.
And perhaps one of the greatest blessings was the one Pastor Burns and his wife gave to someone who helped them after the loss of their unborn child.
“We took our $40 and we got Wendy a gift card and a card, and just thanked her for being willing to share her pain with us,” Pastor Burns's wife Lis said.
A big help and an even bigger challenge for members at this church to continue to pay it forward.
This isn’t the fist time the 4–year-old church has done this type of challenge. The pastor says they chose this time of year because it's so close to Christmas and so important to give.