Benevolence

Deacons model to the church how to appropriately walk alongside individuals or households while responding to situations that require assistance

Benevolence

More than Financial Assistance

The primary role of the deacons is to share the love of Christ and demonstrate His caring concern to all they encounter.

Benevolence is closely tied to stewardship, but more specifically to how we support the people around us. The Christian Reformed Church’s Charge to Deacons states that benevolence involves a lifestyle of love, respect, and compassion and is “not merely a matter of financial assistance.” Therefore deacons are called to “minister to rich and poor alike, both within and outside the church.”

Benevolence

Getting Started

Helping Without Harming in Church Benevolence

“I wish our church could do more to truly help those in financial need among us.”

Have you ever thought that? Building on the teachings of the book “When Helping Hurts,” by Brian Flikkert and Steve Corbett, this workshop will guide your church and deacons to implement a wise approach to your benevolence work.

Discover how food banks, deacon funds, and other benevolent activities can be more meaningful and have a greater impact.

Developing Benevolence Guidelines Workshop

Veteran or new deacons can both struggle to find helpful ways to address complicated situations. The context in which we are now living is constantly changing and so we also need to adapt and adjust the way we do things as we serve in God’s Kingdom. Having clearly defined Guidelines will help you know when to spend a significant amount of time with a request, who to give to (or not) or when to refer to other community agencies.

This workshop will help you and your team of deacons know how best to respond to various situations in your church and/or community, as well as receive some effective criteria to help develop (or revisit) a workable policy.

Take the next step by contacting: Mark Vanderwees: mvanderwees@crcna.org (Eastern Canada), Rachel Vroege: rvroege@crcna.org (Western Canada).

Benevolence

Going Deeper

Financial Life Coaching (FLC) helps deacons in their benevolence work. It moves deacons from simply offering short-term relief to walking alongside those facing financial hardship and helping them make lasting change.

Below are some resources to explain this more fully.

Right now we do not have a specific workshop for deacons.

To help them respond more holistically to requests within and beyond their congregations, Diaconal Ministries has already begun working towards developing a National Financial Coaching Program. This includes setting up a network of experts who can equip and support our staff and the churches.

Please reach out to your Regional Ministry Developer for more information and for more help!

Take the next step by contacting:

Diaconal Ministries Canada