What is an offertory? An offertory, or “musical offering,” is a piece of music played for the glory of God during the worship service. Its main purpose is to give glory to God, and it serves as a time of focus for the congregation. During the offertory, it would be appropriate to listen and enjoy it, or pray, or meditate on scripture, or otherwise prepare your heart for worship (especially if the offertory is before the sermon). The offertory is NOT elevator music. The point is not just some tunes in the background while the ushers are taking up a collection. Yes, this is happening at the same time, but it is not the primary purpose of the musical selection (unless you are planning to rewrite the song as “Bringing in the Dough”). Its function is the same as if there were no monetary offering being taken up at the same time. That being said, there are some technicalities to consider....
While the length of the offertory should not be dependent upon the amount of time it takes to collect the offering, at the same time it should take into account the fact that sometimes the length of time needs to be extended, say when the guy taking up the offering runs out to his car at the beginning because he forgot his check, or the ushers drop the offering plate and have to pick up the contents, or the pastor disappears to get a drink of water or cough drop...and yes, all of these things HAVE happened to me. Recently.
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