ABSTRACT
The Evangelical Church of the sixteenth century retained the practice of accepting money and donations as gifts. The medieval Roman Mass is explained as being structured around two parts. During the first part, prayer and reading takes place. During the second part, the Offertory is completed. It is this second part of the Mass that is of interest, as it begins when the congregation is carrying forth their offerings to the altar and thereby to God. In the new hermeneutical understanding, offerings could not help you on the way to salvation, but giving of gifts was an act of charity, one of the things that was expected of a true Christian. While the church and pastor were qualified as worthy recipients of charity, it was the poor who were the primary beneficiaries of alms. The three centuries after the Reformation have this in common, that the act of giving and donating was believed to be a crucial expression of piety.
