Churchgoers are used to the sound of coins clinking in the collection basket but one small congregation in the German town of Leer is now allowing people to contribute by card too. Worshippers no longer have to have their coins and banknotes ready but can use their bank cards to make donations at the Protestant Reformed Church in the Loga district. It was quite a novelty, especially at the start, says Pastor Ingo Brookmann. Rather than a collection plate, basket or bag, a small red plastic device is passed from one person to the next – just like the ones at shops’ cash registers. The German ch…