OVERVIEW
36 (Jesus said),“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:36-37 (NIV)
What is this? -The “Good Neighbor Fund” is a dedicated fund into which congregants may donate specifically for this cause. It is earmarked only for this purpose so that you know with certainty where your money is being used. We are working on implementing ways to make it easy and convenient to donate to this fund. Please note, the fund will never be replenished with monies that come from our general offering. The fund will only be replenished with monies that are given specifically for this ministry.
Why do we need this?-During his first year here, Pastor Steve had already been approached multiple times by individuals in the community for financial assistance during hard times. While Oak Grove has previously had a Pastor’s discretionary/benevolence fund in the past, they did not have one when Pastor arrived. Therefore, he felt the need to address this issue, as it is best to have a policy and a process in place when these requests come, rather than dealing with each one on a case-by-case basis. Policies help protect both Pastor AND the congregation!
How do we know these funds will be used responsibly?-We have a policy and a process in place that we have largely lifted from other Lutheran congregations that have already dealt with this issue. Individuals requesting assistance will be required to come to the church and fill out a financial assistance request form which Pastor will keep on file. Funds will only be disbursed in the form of gift cards, or in the form of payments directly to creditors – we will never give out cash or checks. Further, each individual who requests assistance will only be eligible to receive a maximum capped amount of aid within a certain time period. Pastor will also be tracking disbursements from the fund, to be sure that the same individuals are not consistently abusing the system.