"We were trained to feed the offering plate rather than those in need"

Have you have visited a church and had a cute little envelope handed to you inscribed with this?

" for God loveth a cheerful giver."...2Cor. 9:7   ???

In our old fellowship, it was the offering collector "with the best annointing" who would use this verse to encourage the trusting folks down there in the pews to contribute into the basket or plate.  One dear lady even referred to other verses in that context, in order to see our finances going into the envelope from vs. 10: which says:
"he that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness" .

Her doctrine and that of our church was that money was our "seed" and we were regularly encouraged by the leadership to sow that seed into that envelope because "God wants to bless you".  Now we believe God surely does want to bless us although it is not necessarily along the lines of have loads of cash and a new car in the driveway every year.  

Allow me to kick over a sacred cow and tell you the truth. 
What the nice man and the well dressed lady up there behind the pulpit did not understand, as they extorted (i.e. manipulated) our giving was a lie.  The envelope's contents, for the most part, goes to fund their group, building, and a hired clergy.

The 2Corinthians ch. 9 passage they quoted from in the Bible said the "seed" and the "cheerful giver" was specifically for the following persons:

1 For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you: and..
9 "He hath scattered abroad, he hath given to the poor; His righteousness abideth for ever.", and again Paul tells us in vs.
12  "For the ministration of this service not only filleth up the measure of the wants (needs) of the saints". 
13: "for the obedience of your confession unto the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution unto them and unto all;" 

Clunk, I think a deacon just dropped his silver, felt-lined offering plate.  For the sake of brevity, I will not list the other 118 verses that say the same thing, only to point out to you again that very, very little of what we chucked into the ole "storehouse' (that is not New Testament either), went anywhere near where the Scripture said it was supposed to go.  That is, to the needy "saints". 

Yes, this is the very passage so often used for the weekly, first day of the week, plate-passing tradition.  It was never for the building, program, remodel fund, church overhead, mortgage, rent, tithes, salaries, or music dept. 

We have been robbed, lied to, and become victims of extortion.  By the way, if you are a deacon, teacher, pastor, or "annointed " offering taker, take a look at that word "extortion".

extortion: Definition from Answers.com extortion n. The act or an instance of extorting. Illegal use of one's official position or powers to obtain property, funds, or patronage

Extortion, illegal use of one's position to obtain what?
That is SOP in Christianity today whether on Christian TV or from behind a pulpit.  Read the verses quoted above once again, and ask yourself, "Where does that tithe and or offering go that I just paid?"  Was that "cheerful giver" about funding a ministry-organization checking account or was it meant to meet the needs of the saints?

Mat. 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
1Cor 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Brother Pastor, Deacon Jones, and Sister Offering taker, where is that "seed" going you just took from God's people?  May I remind you there is not a single verse in the New Testament giving you authority or instruction to take tithes from any church or Christian?
-And that the "cheerful giver" God loves was giving to the poor and needy "saints".  You are robbing the poor and illegaly, according to our New Testament covenant, taking your financial support from the trusting folks sitting in the pew.

The fact that you were not given the truth in Bible College and that your fellow pastors all practice this error does not make it right.  May the truth here cause you to change your mind and REPENT. May the church goers read this and repent.  Why would God  have someone take offerings to pay for financial overhead to keep everything running that God never wanted in the first place?

2Cor 9: 5 
I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your aforepromised bounty, that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty, and not of extortion.
6 But this I say, He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.  (Where were they sowing?)
7 Let each man do according as he hath purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound unto you; that ye, having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound unto every good work:
9 as it is written, He hath scattered abroad, he hath given to the poor; His righteousness abideth for ever.
10 And he that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness:
11 ye being enriched in everything unto all liberality, which worketh through us thanksgiving to God.
12 For the ministration of this service not only filleth up the measure of the wants of the saints, but aboundeth also through many thanksgivings unto God;
13 seeing that through the proving of you by this ministration they glorify God for the obedience of your confession unto the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution unto them and unto all;

It all started in vs1 "For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you"

But we were trained to feed the offering plate rather than ministering to the saints.