Church Support Services : More Than Words

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More Than Words

By Rich DuBose and Monte Sahlin

Photo:Dreamstime

Jesus said we are to be the "salt of the earth," meaning we are to add flavor and nourishment to those we mingle with and touch. In other words, we are not just called "to save souls for eternity," but to use our talents and means to minister to people's physical and emotional needs as well. This is reinforced by what Jesus said in Matthew 25 about caring for the people around us. In the end, theology isn't even mentioned as a determining factor for who is saved and who isn't. The question is, "how did you treat others?"¹
Tending to people's physical needs cannot be something we simply tack on to our busy schedules to fulfill a spiritual requirement. Rather, performing acts of love is an integral part of what it means to be born again, renewed, transformed and Spirit-filled.

God's kingdom stands in stark contrast to the kingdom of this world that is based on political power, domination, materialism and selfishness. Instead we are called to a life of balanced living, self-control, spiritual discovery and sharing. God calls us to translate our theology into biography--to live out His words. This should set us apart from the rest of the world.

As a whole, Adventists have been pretty good at embracing God's words. We have established an impressive set of doctrinal beliefs that are soundly supported by scripture. But what about loving others? What about putting food in people's stomachs? Providing job training for underprivileged teens? Fighting HIV? What about helping single moms understand good hygiene? Sure, a number of our churches have done some of this, and we have ADRA and other institutional services that work in our behalf. But what about us individually? Do we embody the spirit of Jesus in our communities? Do we take time to care about other people? Are we leaving a trail of positive influence and physical blessing wherever we go?

Our audiences may never hear our neatly crafted sermons because their stomachs are growling too loudly. Some may never make it to our polished services because their family relationships are in shambles and they need immediate intervention and mediation. Unknowingly, we may be answering questions no one is asking simply because we are missing the clues and signals that are being generated by those we want to reach.

Everyone Longs to Be Heard

StoryCorps--the largest oral history project in our nation's history presents a collection of fascinating American stories, told by the people who lived them.² One of the premises of StoryCorps is that "the stories of everyday people are as interesting and important as the celebrity stories we're bombarded with by the media every minute of the day. That if we take the time to listen, we'll find wisdom, wonder, and poetry in the lives and stories of the people all around us."³ Ultimately, each person wants to know why he or she was born and what the future holds. When we get to know people, the deeper questions eventually come to the surface. Evangelism is all a matter of timing and being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

A balanced presentation of the gospel requires that we do more than proclaim the promise of a better world to come. It requires a hands-on application of mercy and compassion. In fact, we cannot grow spiritually without somehow being involved in this process.

Scripture declares: "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) NKJV

Those of us who have been in the church know that we are called to a life of action and responsibility, but how do with make it a reality? How do we move beyond mere words to a life of dynamic service and generosity?

Working Together - Photo by Wendy Kaveney. All Rights Reserved

What Can I Do?

OK, so you're ready to step out and be used by God to help others. Where do you start?

Here are some practical suggestions from a helpful resource titled, Understanding Your Community by Monte Sahlin:

1. Decide if you are doing this primarily for your own benefit, or in order to help others. For example, lots of churches distribute food to needy families around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. But each year in June, July and August, regional food bank managers report they cannot find enough food to meet the need. When they appeal to churches for help, most are not interested because key leaders are on vacation or they are focused on VBS or evangelism campaigns. If we are serious about feeding the hungry (or meeting any other need), we need to be prepared to do it all year round, not just when we feel like it is a nice thing to do at the holidays.

2. Do some research: It is important that before we begin to meet needs that we actually identify what the needs are. And that means the needs as they are perceived by community leaders and by the needy, not just our own opinion. A needs assessment is essential if you are serious about helping.

3. Find out what others are doing: How will your efforts mix with what others are doing in a way that leverages available resources to provide the best possible services to the needy? For example, in one community five churches were all feeding the homeless on the weekend, but the rest of the week they had to go hungry. The five churches should have coordinated their efforts and each taken a different day instead of all working on the same days.

4. Gather a group to pray about the information you find and spend time discussing it. A good plan is essential if you are really going to be helpful. Good intentions do not honor our God if they end up hurting more than helping.

5. Get some help. Poverty, depression, health, family dysfunction, addictions, domestic violence, literacy---none of the things that humanity is struggling with are simple. Lots of good-intentioned people do more damage than good. There are Christian professionals who have made a lifetime commitment to this kind of ministry. They can help guide you toward an effective plan.

Recently, the Ohio Governor's Office of Faith-based Initiatives put out a plea for churches to consider doing one of the following:

1. If the church is not operating a community food pantry, adopt a nearby pantry. Conduct regular campaigns to gather canned goods and other nonperishable groceries. With the economic situation, most of the food pantries are running out of food long before they help all of the families in crisis.

2. Get one or more couples in the church to become foster parents, but don't leave them to do this alone. The church should provide a support team to help the family(ies) who are foster parents and raise the money to send the children to church school.

3. Adopt prisoners who are being released from institutions when their sentence is over. More than 90% of the prisoners in the state system have been convicted before. (This is their second or third or fourth time around.) The most effective method to get them out of "the life" and into a new life is religion. This usually means adopting the prisoner's family too.

4. Recruit church members to mentor children of single parents. Have an after-school program at the church or in a neighborhood facility for underprivileged children. Mentoring works better in a group setting initially and in the group setting guidance can be given to the mentors, help can be provided with homework, etc.

5. Train one, two or three volunteers to operate a local office of the Benefit Bank. Ohio is one of a dozen or more states that utilize this program. It is simply a web-based evaluation of the needs of a family which then plugs them into programs that they are eligible for such as the Earned Income Credit, "food stamps" (actually a preloaded specialized kind of credit card these days), unemployment, subsidized housing, education funds, etc. One church distributed more than $125,000 of benefits to people in their community in the first six months. It costs the church nothing other than having a computer set up with web access. An AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer came to the church and provided the 12 hours of training for a small group that rotates staffing the program at the church and it is open for a couple of hours after church on the weekend and again for an hour or so prior to midweek meetings (twice a week for them) at the church; times when people are generally there anyhow.

Many states, cities and counties are now appealing for help from churches. It is better to respond to one of these appeals and fit into an established strategy than to go off on our own and start something that may actually cause more problems than good.

Here is one more idea: Any church can start a regular support group for the unemployed or those searching for a better job. There are plenty of guest speakers/resource people that can be found in any community if you know where to look. Churches can always pray for those who are looking for jobs; sometimes the spiritual and emotional support is the most important thing. Just listening to people share their stories is a big healing and empowering element. The support group could meet weekly or every two weeks or even as little as once a month.

Understanding Your Community | General Demographic Information

Rich DuBose is Director of Church Support Services for the Pacific Union Conference. Monte Sahlin is Director of Research & Special Projects for the Ohio Conference

1. Matthew 25:31-45
2. Listening Is an Act of Love, by Dave Isay, The Penguin Press, p. inside front cover flap.
3. Ibid. p.1.