From the Desk of Pastor Marsha

What’s Happening 3.22.24

The Pastor’s discretionary fund…have you ever heard of that?  I know some of you have because I know some of you have contributed to it. Zion has a history of encouraging their pastors to have some resources for individuals who call or stop by looking for assistance. 

Zion actually supports many of our local organizations that help those who have limited resources. Just locally we support Domestic Violence Intervention Program; The Common Fund; Crisis Center, Shelter House, Free Lunch, Habitat for Humanity, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Johnson County.  Not to mention many national and international organizations. 

But there are always those that fall in between the cracks at times in their lives.  With the rising cost of housing and groceries and many other household expenses things are tighter than they were even a few years ago.  Also, I think we probably get people calling or stopping by because of our close vicinity to the downtown area.  So almost every week we will get maybe one, sometimes up to 4 or 5 individuals who stop by asking if we can help out. 

Since I have been here, we have tried a few different ways of “helping out”, from trying to assist with rent or utilities to setting up women who fled from an abusive situation with nothing but the clothes on their back.  But honestly even those small amounts added up pretty quickly.  We finally decided we didn’t have the resources or the staffing to pay part of someone’s rent or help someone to purchase clothing supplies from Walmart.  We decided probably the easiest and fairest way was to just give gift cards to Hy Vee. They can be used to purchase gas to get to work or groceries until they get paid at the end of the week. 

We do track names of individuals and dates when we’ve given a card, to share the wealth, as it were.  Limiting a gift card to once a month, and after three or four months in a row, suggest they need to take a break so we can share the cards with others in need.  The idea being that they are for emergency use, not to supplement an individual’s monthly income. 

I share all of this to let you know the money for this fund has been given by members of the congregation who feel called to support this ministry. And those funds are almost out at this time. So I’m asking, as the pastor, if that is something you feel is important to provide and have the resources, would you be willing to donate to that fund, so we can continue to help out those who sometimes “fall between the cracks”.  

Thank you to all who have contributed in the past and potentially in the future.  It is good to be able to help out even a little bit when individuals call or walk in needing assistance.

Thank you Pastor Marsha