Every “ONE” Counts Ministry

One Dollar by darrendean

One Dollar by darrendean

In 2014, the Seven Oaks Church of Christ did a new benevolent ministry. This ministry proved successful and I wanted to share it with others.  The idea is certainly not original to us and has been done by other churches in various forms.

We simply asked every individual in attendance Sunday morning to give a $1.  We then take the number in attendance and give it to someone in need or a worthy cause.

The elders decided it would be easier just to budget the money.  There was an estimate based on the average attendance and the number of Sundays.  This did significantly increase the budget so we really did depend on folks to give their $1.

We put a deacon over the ministry who works with a team each week to disperse the monies.  We asked our church members to make referrals of those to help. The program recipient for the week had to be referred by a church member.  If possible the church member will then get the check and take it to the person.  We include a form letter explaining the ministry and inviting the recipient to church.

This year we gave out over $13,500 in aid to our community.  The money can also be used for special service projects, a visiting missionary, or anything deemed worthy.

We kept the names of the recipients anonymous from the general membership, though we did run a blurb in the bulletin sharing what the money went towards without any names.  But we have received many thank you notes from recipients that were printed in the bulletin.

Through 2014, we were able to help numerous fire victims, cancer patients, accident victims, our own members with gas, food, Christmas gifts, and other necessities.  We helped a tremendous amount of people and they were all connected with our members and were all situations of real need.

We basically did not do any other benevolent ministry, except our food pantry.  In years past we had done a Give Away Day and also helped those who applied with bills and other items.  This ministry helps us obey the teachings of Jesus in helping the poor and others with immediate needs.  It creates opportunities for evangelism and outreach of our own members.  Plus, we have received very good public relations from this ministry. Our community has appreciated and been astounded at this work and our members have been very supportive.

We are looking forward to more good works with this ministry in 2015.

—————————

Sign up to receive every blog post in your inbox at the top right of the page.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/every-one-counts-ministry/