A recent article addressed to church leaders openly raises the question of accepting and promoting Bitcoin donations. A new step further for the adoption of Bitcoin by civil society?

The Christian-oriented media Church Law & Tax just placed once again the Bitcoin debate on the table in the Christian community, following the publication of an article welcoming the decision of the American charity United Way Worldwide to accept bitcoin for its Innovation fund.

“With a major charitable organization like the United Way accepting bitcoin, churches will quite possibly have congregants who want to give using digital currency-if it’s not already happening.”

An online guidebook to the attention of its subscribers has already been published, explaining step by step how to start accepting Bitcoin in a church. The tutorial headline states:

“Your church may be approached in the near future by a donor (probably a relatively young person) who wants to make a contribution using bitcoin.”

The are several reasons for a church to encourage its parishioners to adopt the virtual currency as explained by the Christian entrepreneur Russ McGuire, the founder and co-founder of three technology startups including the Christian social network Cxfriends.com :

“Some churches prioritize being on the leading edge of technology and staying relevant to sophisticated churchgoers. I imagine there was a time when checks in the offering plate were considered cutting edge – today checks have become the preferred payment method in churches.

Many churches have adopted e-commerce as a means of collecting online tithes and offerings. Accepting Bitcoin payments may simply be the next step for these churches.

Anonymous Donations

Additionally, Bitcoin’s anonymity may also appeal to believers who take to heart Jesus’ admonishment in Matthew 6, “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” By accepting Bitcoin payments, churches can make it easy for those that want to give anonymously.

A point confirmed by parishioner Andrew Harrison, who convinced the Reverand Chris Brice, Vicar of St Martin’s Church in Kentish Town (United Kingdom) to accept the crypto-currency: “No one knows who is making the donation, which is the way it should be… only God knows.”

These arguments clearly seem to have borne fruit, as many other churches have announced since the beginning of the year the acceptance of Bitcoin donation.

We can especially mention St. Paul’s Ashgrove (Australia), where the Priest in Charge, Reverend Tiffany Sparks, is a strong advocate of the cryptocurrency and its adequacy with Christian values:

“Technology meets Theology. I mean, this symbolize the nature of what we’re doing: No matter where you come from, which currency you have, we sort of accept all of it !”

What do you think about the adequation of Bitcoin and Theology? Will it lead to new bitcoin use cases? Comment below and share your opinion!

Images from St. Paul’s Ashgrove and Shutterstock.