Congregation Members Show Kindness, $5 at a Time
When have you ever gone to church and as the plate is passed, the pastor tells you to take money out of the basket instead of giving money? On January 5th, Trinity Church gave $5 to each person that attended the Service and told them to perform "a random act of kindness,” showing Jesus' love in a practical way.
Pastor Brian Metke stated that, “We view Sunday morning services as a laboratory where we not only honor God, but where we learn how to extend the Kingdom of God into our day to day lives. We want people to experiment with stepping out of their comfort zone and showing Jesus’ love to others in a practical way.“ During the Christmas season Trinity collected $1,500 for our local relief fund and people naturally expected the church staff to dole out those funds to needy people. We decided to throw the congregation a curve and help them to realize that the church is not primarily an institution, but the Body of Christ. We wanted everyone at Trinity to begin to look for opportunities to reflect Christ’s presence.
People gave their money to folks begging on street corners in Milwaukee and Chicago. A number of people added to the $5’s and paid for people in the checkout line in the supermarket. Parishioners secretly paid for dinners who were eating in a restaurant. Countless cups of coffee were purchased for people in hospitals, gas stations and McDonalds. Many folks stated that it was really hard to give the money away, they really had to think about how and who to bless with this gift. The bottom line was that worshipers began to realize that they were Christ’s hands and feet and that they were blessed to be a blessing wherever they went. Log in to add a comment
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