5 Ways Your Church Can Help Individuals during Hard Financial Times

Written by Keith Hamilton

Layoffs! Foreclosures! Credit Crises! These are financially hard times for many individuals and families. The needs can be overwhelming for the church trying to minister during such challenging times. However, Jesus encouraged His followers to help meet the needs of a hurting world. Like individuals facing financially difficult times, the church could potentially become paralyzed since it is going through hard times, too.

Aaron Menikoff, pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia has discovered the best approach to overcoming this paralyzing attitude. Menikoff remarked, “We are a fairly small church but we have had a lot of people affected by the recession. There are certainly larger churches with impressive programs. We are beginning fairly small.”

By beginning fairly small, the church can show hurting individuals it really does care about them personally. It is not about big and impressive programs, but rather the church showing a simple attitude of love and care for the hurting.

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Five simple methods can be used by the church to make a difference in hurting lives. The different methods should not seriously impact the church’s budget but are sure to impact individual lives in need of a church that cares.

1. Pastor Led

The first method involves a pastor led-approach. The pastor can organize a special fair entitled “Encouragement for the Job Seeker.” This is the approach Menikoff is using in his church. The pastor will speak briefly during this special event about how Christians should approach the recession, job loss, and discouragement. The pastor will also speak about the measurement of true success. Afterwards, the special fair should feature a successful businessman who has endured difficulty himself. The businessman should share how to approach a job search and provide encouragement that Christ will see hurting individuals through the dark days.

2. Lay Led

Another ministry can be developed by an individual church member with a burden for helping those experiencing difficult financial times. For example, the member could send out a daily email prayer list to church members and unemployed individuals. The email would list unemployed individuals so church members can pray specifically for them. An unemployed individual is kept on the prayer list until he finds a job. The email would also contain job openings that other church members have heard about through their personal network or employment.

3. Youth Group Led

A third simple way might be for the church youth group to take an active role in helping. The youth could place grocery bags on the windshields of cars in the church’s parking lot. Each grocery bag could contain a brief note encouraging the driver to return the bag with food to the church’s needy pantry. Likewise, a youth group might encourage members to bring nonperishable items to the church on the first Sunday of each month. On that day, donors would place their gifts in front of the altar. The gifts would stay in the front of the altar for the entire service to remind individuals they are giving these gifts in the name of Christ.

4. Project Approach

The fourth approach could be for the church to encourage church members to come together privately to make a difference in the lives of others. For instance, in a rural setting, several church members who were farmers came together processed and packed two cows for those needing assistance. The church, in turn, distributed three pound packages of hamburger meat to the individuals experiencing a financially difficult time. In another rural setting, several individuals came together to plant pecan trees in a vacant field. The ideas are almost endless.

5. Church Sponsored Financial Management Workshops

A fifth way the church can help individuals is by offering financial management classes. Several churches or an association might want to band together to teach these classes. There are numerous excellent financial educational resources available to churches.

The key in assisting individuals financially is to start simple. The Biblical model of a cold cup of water did not cost much, but the impact of this gift changed the world.

About Dr. Hamilton

Keith Hamilton, D.Ed.Min, CFP, CRPC is with the Georgia Baptist Convention. He has written several publications on establishing church designated funds, managing your household finances, and protecting your church and ministry from identity theft. Check out www.churchfinancialservices.org for more help. Other articles by Keith...

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