From One Neighbor to the Next : FPC's Community Grants
Once, when Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He told a story about a man who was in desperate need, beaten, battered, and lying by the side of the road. The first person who came along that could help sees the poor man, crosses to the other side of the road, and goes on his merry way. A second person comes along, sees the man on the side of the road, and does the same thing. A third man, a Samaritan, sees the injured man and, instead of passing him by, tends to his injuries, takes him to an inn, and pays for the costs to look after this poor soul. Jesus clearly makes the point that of the three, the Samaritan acted neighborly.
I begin with that familiar story to say, we at First Presbyterian Church of LaGrange want to be good neighbors in our community. We want to be like the Samaritan in the above story. We want to be the persons who go out of our way to assist those in great need, even when it costs something.
To that end, First Presbyterian hosts a Thursday Lunch Ministry, providing meals for around 110 Meals on Wheels Friends and an additional 20 or so meals for neighbors who come by the church for lunch. (Pre-covid there were 50 or more coming for lunch)
The DeCelle Morning Ministry seeks to be a good neighbor to men and women who need extra support, direction, guidance, and a listening ear. That ministry meets every Wednesday morning at 9:00.
First Presbyterian has had a long-time neighborly relationship with Berta Weathersbee Elementary School by supporting its faculty, staff, administration, and students throughout the year.
We seek to be good neighbors at the Clothes Closet and Food Pantry. We want to be good neighbors to the Boy Scout Troop that meets here on Monday nights, and we want to be a good neighbor to our A.A. brothers and sisters. You see, there are endless ways that Jesus has called us to act neighborly.
More recently, First Presbyterian has re-evaluated how we financially support our community to make our benevolent giving more neighborly. What I mean by that is, we wanted even our financial support of other ministries to be more relational, neighborly, and intentional, and less random and from a distance.
First Presbyterian has an annual benevolent budget, where money is directed to support other ministries in the community. These benevolent gifts were mostly small financial contributions made to ministries in the community that were doing things First Presbyterian could not do. For instance, First Presbyterian is probably not uniquely gifted to operate a women’s shelter for domestic violence, but we can support those who do that ministry through a financial gift.
Over many years of doing this, we found that our gifts may or may not have had their desired impact because we did not have a good understanding of these ministry neighbors or how our gifts were most needed. Honestly, many of us did not have a great understanding of the workings of the non-profit ministries we were supporting. We believed that good ministry was happening, but we observed it from the other side of the road, so to speak.
We were not too unlike many other churches when it comes to making benevolent gifts; we were 3 miles wide and about an inch deep. Many churches give to a relatively broad group of ministries, doing various essential work, but don’t have a neighborly relationship with those organizations, much less a ministry partnership - nothing that seemed the least bit neighborly.
After some prayerful conversations within the church’s Vision Team and much consideration by our mission committee, we arrived at a new approach of being better neighbors, especially when it comes to distributing benevolent dollars to the many incredible ministry partners in our LaGrange community.
Beginning in 2021, the Mission Committee of First Presbyterian Church began providing community grants of up to $2,500.00 to help with new programs or new initiatives among ministry partners in LaGrange and Troup County.
We asked that everyone who applied for a community grant have a 501c(3) status and that we might support some new initiative or program, rather than their annual operating budget. In just the first round of grants, we heard from nine organizations about the tremendous work they do in our community and beyond.
It has been a real game-changer for our church’s mission committee and, ultimately, down the road, for First Presbyterian Church. Our mission grant committee read each grant proposal carefully and learned a lot by doing so. We have followed up with phone conversations to clarify some things and ask more questions. In short, we are learning about our ministry neighbors so that we might be better neighbors to them.
Just in this first grant cycle, we have learned ways that we can partner with others. We have a better understanding of some of the ministries in our community. And we are excited about new possibilities that exist for ministry in LaGrange/Troup County.
This first grant cycle will see financial support going to:
The Calumet Park Neighborhood Association, who is working to achieve food security and the quality of life for Calumet Park residents.
Safe Families for Children, who is working to stabilize and strengthen families in crisis.
Harmony House Domestic Violence Shelter, who is working to expand the knowledge of faith leaders about domestic violence and develop action plans to address this issue within congregations.
Circles of Troup County, who is working to move families toward economic stability.
Get Troup Reading, who is working on expanding summer literacy programs by purchasing new multicultural books to help young children build the foundation for reading on grade level by 3rd grade.
The first cycle of grants totaled $6250.00. We will repeat this process in the Fall with the hopes of reaching even more of our community ministry partners. In the meantime, we have had meaningful conversations with these neighbors. Hopefully, these conversations will enrich our relationships and our ability to be the kind of neighbors that we believe Jesus has called us to be.