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Not pray and go, but ‘pay and go’ as church thinks outside the box

March 4th, 2021 11:45 AM

By Kieran O'Mahony

The Tap and Go facility at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Clonakilty.

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CLONAKILTY parish is once again thinking outside the box when it comes to meeting challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

To combat the loss of income for the up keep of their church and parish, the parish is setting up a ‘Tap and Go’ facility for contactless payments to allow parishioners make instant donations at the place of worship.

Just earlier this month, Clonakilty parish organised a ‘drive-through’ ash service for Ash Wednesday at the Church of the Immaculate Conception which proved a tremendous success, and now the latest initiative will make it easier for people to donate to help meet the day-to-day running costs of the parish.

Posting on the Clonakilty Parish Facebook page, organisers said: ‘What we have done here at the Church of the Immaculate Conception is install a ‘Tap and Go’ device which will enable people to make a secure fixed sum donation of €5 with the tap of a debit/credit card at any time when the church is open.’

It is hoped the ‘Tap and Go’ device will prove to be popular with parishioners, with the devices also able to accept donations from ApplePay and GooglePay on smart phones.

The parish has also reminded people that in the Diocese of Cork and Ross initiatives have been undertaken to offset the loss of income for the parishes with the addition of a ‘Donate’ button, which can be found on many church websites.

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