Leadership Journal

Valleytown Baptist Church in Andrews, North Carolina, can handle an occasional request for financial assistance. They're used to supplying food coupons, clothing for children, or medicine to the needy. This assistance is funded by the church's monthly special offering. But pastor Ron McClure believes tougher times are ahead, as he gazes from the church's front porch across the street toward another company suffering massive layoffs.

What is a pastor to do in a town where over one-third of the workforce has lost jobs due to the declining economy?

Until recently, compassion ministries usually reached out to homeless individuals who required only a hot meal and some bus tokens. Now benevolence has taken on a new look. Today's needy are clean-shaven and often educated, but still in need of help.

Mass layoffs have increased in the past 18 months. The total layoff events for 2001, at 21,345, and the total number of initial claimants, at 2,496,784, were about 25 percent higher than the previous year (15,738 layoff announcements and and 1,835,592 claimants, according to the U.S. Department of Labor). And the trend is escalating in some sectors, such as information technologies.

Pastors are asking, "Just how much should the church help these people, if at all?"

So far seven families in Pastor McClure's church have been affected. He believes the best action, for now, is to wait. "Right now they have severance packages, retirement, and unemployment. We as a church are willing to help, but we will have to look at them on an individual basis. I'm not sure where we're going, but it does make you wonder how you're going to pay the church mortgage next year, and how your people will make their house payments."

One church directly faced with that question is Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California's Silicon Valley, an area hit hard by layoffs in the technology industry. David Peterson, who serves as director of congregational care, explained the issue of supporting a family's home mortgage was not a question of "should we?" but "can we?"

"Rent is $1,000 to $4,000 a month in this area. A mortgage payment is $2,500 to $8,000 a month," Peterson said. "How do you address those kinds of financial burdens?" The church realized that benevolence may mean offering something more valuable than cash.

"The first program we developed in that ministry was targeted for people in crisis at the moment. Prayerworks is a weekly prayer meeting where we probe the Scripture to get encouragement and gain an understanding of who God is during this time of crisis," said Katherine Leary, who runs Market Place Ministries, the church's ministry that provides support services for those out of work.

Leary also offers a weekly business luncheon where networking is encouraged and professionals speak on career topics. The group boasts a strong Internet community that posts resumes and job opportunities.

Menlo Park still receives the traditional kinds of benevolence requests—more than 700 ...