What is “My Brother’s Keeper” ministry? It is the benevolent ministry of Crossroads Christian Church. In the past, benevolence, assistance given to non-members of the church, has been handled through the general budget. Often, this would mean that funds were not available when the needs would come in. This resulted in our missing opportunities to reach out into our community with the love of Christ.
This is why we have decided to handle benevolence through a separately funded ministry called, “My Brother’s Keeper”. Through this ministry, we will able to respond to financial needs in the community by developing several funding streams in addition to the funds provided by the church.
Funds for the ministry will come from three possible sources. First, the church itself will contribute directly to the ministry two ways. One will be through a special offering we will receive on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This will become our annual “Benevolent Sunday”. Our service that day will be centered a round our responsibility to care for the needy in our community. We will also report to the congregation on what the ministry has done in the past year.
Another way that the congregation will contribute to the ministry will be through our annual church garage sale. This event has been used to fund several different missions and projects in the past. However we would like to focus this event on raising funds to help the needy in our community. The event is a great outreach ministry as well. Currently, we are in need of someone to direct this event this summer.
Besides direct giving, My Brother’s Keeper will be funded through secondary giving by leveraging our spending. For example, if you shop at Payless or Marsh, there is a way that five percent (5%) of what you are already spending can be donated back to our benevolent ministry through using gift cards. There are several other such programs that we will talk about on May 31st when we launch the ministry.
I hope you will come and hear the exciting possibilities of this ministry and God can do through you. The movie is great, and the evening is free to all. Bring your family, neighbors, and friends on May 31st at 6pm to see a "One Night with The King" and hear more about My Brother's Keeper Ministry.
