In case you haven't seen this from Church of God Ministries ...
Hurricane Katrina has devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States, hitting Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama particularly hard. The Disaster Relief Committee has met to plan our relief efforts. While specific information is not yet available, with 175 Church of God congregations in these three Gulf states, it is inevitable that numerous churches and individuals will need assistance with both emergency relief and long-term recovery. Assistance with flood damage may also be needed in southern Florida.
The anticipated emergency relief needs along the Gulf Coast are great. Compassionate Ministries, a ministry of Church of God Ministries, Inc., is now collecting money for emergency relief needs. Funds will be distributed through the state offices and local Churches of God in affected states.
If you would like to help with hurricane relief, you may give online with your credit card at www.chog.org or send checks made payable to "Church of God Ministries" to Church of God Ministries, PO Box 2420, Anderson, IN 46018-2420. Please write "Hurricane Relief, Project 45.04502" on your memo line.
Updates will be made available via the Church of God Ministries Web site at www.chog.org as more information becomes available.
For more information on giving, visit www.chog.org or call Obadiah Smith, Compassionate Ministries coordinator, at 800-848-2464, ext 2165.
2 comments:
funny, not so funny story in trying to advance our mission/vision for the Kingdom through service to families in need from Katrina...
in the midst of opposition to leadership discussions about the use of a house we own to help a young man trying to get back on his feet after addiction rehab and jail time, i cast the vision of using our church's house as a "hope house". this would be a temporary housing and accountability relationship whereby we helped an individual or family get back on their feet financially and into their own place. (you can see more about this at my posting from the end of August, looking ahead)
while away to Guyana, a rush of refugees from New Orleans approached our members for help. they called for a special business meeting to help these families through short-term housing until they can find a place (sound familiar)
i walked into church and found a meeting going on to determine how they would word the motion. as i stepped into the meeting, they attempted to bring me up to speed and told me the motion: "to use the house as temporary housing to help families get back on their feet as a result of hurricane Katrina"
i said, you know, it could be Tornado in Moulton tomorrow, or a fire down the street next week -- are we going to ask permission of the church for each family, or do we want general permission? i would suggest taking off "as a result of hurricane Katrina"
in disgust, one board member said, "then you're just making it a hope house." and another said, "the congregation doesn't want that."
i said, i've been approached by many in favor of the idea -- why don't we let the congregation decide?
our Council chairman asked, "do we love Katrina victims more than other people?" after more discussion, it was decided to take off the Katrina part and the meeting adjourned
during the business meeting, the board chair came up and read the motion, including a sentence that said, "but not to be used as a hope house"."
regardless of what you want to call it, the ministry is being brought into being through tragedy. instead, it will just be a house of hope instead
Wow, that's some story. Unfortunately, changing to a missional church is a long process. Deeply ingrained perspectives don't change instantly. (See my book review on The Forgotten Half of Change). Keep leading your people to a new place!
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