The Deacon’s Fund
A few weeks ago, I came out of the sanctuary after the service and found a family huddled in the corner, attempting to communicate with one of our members in Spanish. They were an immigrant family from Mexico, trying to cover their basic needs in a new country when the husband was laid off from work. Although he was starting a new job in a few days, they didn’t have money to cover rent and would be evicted the next day. With two little kids and a pregnant wife, the family was desperate and terrified. When I asked them why they came to Wellspring, they said they were driving by, praying to God to help them and they saw our church building. They were incredibly scared, but they told me that they knew that when you are scared, you should go to the church. And so they walked through our doors. Wellspring was able to help them in their time of need through our Deacon’s Fund.
In March 2020, at the start of Covid, Wellspring set up a Benevolence Fund as a way for the congregation to give to the tangible needs of our community. We renamed this the Deacon’s Fund to represent the historic role of the Deacon to distribute church funds to those in need. Over the past 2 and a half years, we have seen over $60,000 come through this fund and we have been able to help people with rental assistance, paying for counseling, helping with medical procedures and covering other bills. It has been a beautiful way to care for needs within our Wellspring congregation and also our greater Englewood community. There is one member of our congregation who received rental assistance in a very challenging season and they were so excited to tell us how God has since provided a steady job and now they can give financially to help others!
This is a beautiful ministry that is not always visible to our congregation. We have a great process in place to ensure accountability and the Deacons desire to honor the faithful generosity of our congregation by meeting the needs that come to us. If you would like to give to this fund and ensure that we have money available to meet the needs that arise, you can give to the “Deacon’s Fund” on either the website or app.
If you have any questions, please reach out to me! You can email me at katie@wellspringenglewood.com.
