We were visiting our future church last Sunday and were very moved by the acts of benevolence that they demonstrated.

It seems that one of the families that attends that church was in a desperate situation with their house. The foundation had given way and the house was literally breaking up. Plus, they had a special needs child.

The church had been working with the family for several months to try to resolve their housing problems. Finally, they concluded that the best thing to do was to abandon the existing house and build the family a new house.

Someone from the church made a $40,000 donation towards the project. The church in turn asked members of the congregation to donate $10. Since there were about 4,000 members, they easily raised another $40,000. Plus, they asked for volunteer laborers to work on the house when it came time to build. All and all, it was a very moving event.

Then I look at the church that I presently attend. It would be easier to get blood out of a turnip than a dollar out of the decons. They seem to have an aversion towards helping anyone. While I realize that they can’t give money to everyone, I also know that if the congregation were aware of these needs, they would be willing to help. Unfortunately, the decons do not make any of these needs known. Instead, they focus on accounting procedures and practices.

A few years back, one of the families in the church that I presently attend had a major set back. Dad, who was their only source of income, abandoned his wife and 4 preteen daughters.

The family applied for and were receiving welfare, but there was no child support as dad had fled the country. In short, their financial needs exceeded their income. Soon, bills started piling up and utilities were being shut off.

The house that they lived in was old and at the lower end of the housing market in the area so finding a different house was not really an option.

Since the decons were not bring the needs of this family to the congregation, I was concerned that nothing was being done and that they were going to loose their house. I expressed my concerns to the minister and he just smiled and said not to worry, the decons would never let the family loose their house. Well guess what, the family lost their house.

A few months later, the church, under the guide lines of the decons, started a fund drive to renovate the church. Pews were recovered, carpet was replaced and a small fortune was spent on oak lumber.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the church did need to be renovated and the church does look nice, but they went to extremes with the oak lumber. To make matters worse, they used the churches cash surplus to pay off the low interest renovation loan 5 years early.

So, what can I say? The decons managed to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate the church but couldn’t float a $50,000 loan to save the house of a family.

Every time that I look at all the quarter sawn  oak, I think of the family that lost their house. Sad.

Ministers come and ministers go but it is the people who make up the church.