During the “Radical: Invitation to Extreme Living” sermon series, I preached a sermon titled, “How Much is Enough?” I spoke about how the Scriptures challenge us in regard to financial prosperity and the poor. In fact, I made a case for the idea that our treatment of the poor and the needy is evidence of our relationship with God. The more we love God, the more we will care about and minister to the poor and the needy.
On that same Sunday, at the conclusion of the service, I announced that during Calvary’s Adventure Week we would be offering free breakfast and lunch for the children that attended. I also mentioned that the McAllen ISD was the provider of such a service. There has been concern expressed about the appropriateness of our church offering food that has been provided by a government agency. There was also a question raised about whether or not offering “school meals” to the children of our church contradicted my message to the congregation that we as Christians should help the poor.
Given that concern, I think it would be important that I explain our decision to allow the McAllen ISD to serve meals at Calvary during Adventure Week. It is my hope that this explanation would clarify matters for some of you.
As I discussed plans for Adventure Week with Pastor Susan this spring, we decided that we would schedule it during the day in order to reach more children from the community. We thought that such a schedule would be helpful for children of single moms or other latchkey children who are not in day care or other day summer programs. (Sound like the history of the beginning of Sunday School in 18th century London?). After we had made that determination, we were told about the opportunity of having McAllen ISD serve free breakfast and lunch to the children who attended. We agreed to this because we thought it would be a ministry to the children in our community who would come. The qualification of the program is not based on the individual children who come but on the area where the church is located. In order, not to make the food distribution cumbersome, the meal program does not require that individual children “apply” or “qualify.” Any child who shows up and desires a meal, can get one.
The food comes from the USDA Summer Food Service Program. It is designed to “fill the nutrition gap and make sure children can get the nutritious meals they need” (http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/summer/). This program usually involves the collaboration of schools, non-profits, businesses, volunteers and government to get the food to the children. In our case, we felt it was a good way to facilitate the delivery of meals to children in our community/church and to show our care for them as we involved them in Adventure Week. The Summer Food Service Program did not put any restrictions on what we do for Adventure Week or require anything from us. In other words, there were no strings attached.
As Baptists, we believe in the separation of church and state. Calvary is not seeking or counting on government to support its ministries. However, we understand that community transformation requires partnership and collaboration with non-profits, with business, with the education sector, the medical sector, and sometimes with government, as long as it does not compromise our convictions or limit our freedom. When we agree on needs to be met with others, we can partner with them to meet those needs.
I know there are diverse views about this subject among our members. I recognize that there are some who feel that it is not the job of government to feed people but rather the job of the church and non-profits. I respect that position.
The conviction that we should, in the name of Christ, minister to the needs of the poor is a biblical one. We count on the church to provide resources for this purpose. We also want to help people have access to other existing resources in the community.
That is the reason behind our decision to serve the meals during Adventure Week. I apologize if I offended anyone. It was not my intention. We are also willing to revisit this action for the future if it is deemed contrary to our church principles.
May God bless us as we continue to find ways to make his glory and love known in our community, throughout the Valley and around the world.
I see no harm is what was done. Anytime there are resources to help the needy and poor, it should be done. Pastor Julio's wisdom and discernment have been affirmed in the use of McAllen ISD.
ReplyDeleteI support the decision made. While we at Calvary serve, we also can extend our service to those who are not so fortunate at receiving a meal at home. We continue to serve by what ever means to bring more children and adults to Christ.
ReplyDeleteRose O'Donnell
As members of Calvary the past eight years, we fully support Pastor Julio's decision to provide meals to the children in our community. We feel there is nothing wrong with using the government's money (our money) to win souls to Christ. Until our church is able to get our finances in order we need to use the resources that are given to us.
ReplyDeleteThank you Pastor Julio for your discerment and wisdom, decisions regarding the use of outside resources are difficult to make and can sometimes be interpreted in the wrong way. With God's guidance and prayer decisions to use outside resources can certainly help in furthering Gods kingdom. God's use of an ungodly kingdom to bring his people back to him is a good example of using a government (Babylon) to bring his chosen people back to worship him. The use of outside resources is not an indication of internal financial instability. Calvary has a fine team with the stewardship committee. I have not worked with a better team who is after God's own heart. God has given us wisdom to be good stewards of his resources and to keep his finances in order as reflected in the financial reports. Lets continue to pray for wisdom to use his resouces at Calvary to bring more people to Christ. Hector Garza
ReplyDeleteI do not support the decision made by our leadership in this regard for two reasons. Our federal, state, and local government are not members of our church, and for good reason. The separation of the two is imperative to maintain the integrity of the church. Earlier this year our local government was wanting to put up an evolution exhibit on the trail next to the church, of which we opposed and fought against. Accepting benefits from our debt burdened government is not only fiscally irresponsible, but also compromises our integrity to fight against other issues in the future that may arise. How can we bite the hand that fed us? Secondly, our leadership should be ever mindful of decisions made that may act as a division within the congregation, and seek the counsel of the deacons if such a decision is absolutely necessary.
ReplyDeleteChris Freels
I appreciated the meals for many children that may not have a full meal during the day when at home during the summer. This I believe was optional to the parent whether a meal be provided or not on the registration form. I also referred a family whom I know the child benefited from eating breakfast and lunch. He learned about God and who He Is. A seed was planted among the family.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Zamora
I am in total agreement with Dr. Freels' comments and perspective. We do not need to let any governmental agency creep into our church - setting a precedent - it can be a sneaky thing - just what our Founding Fathers wanted to avoid. We need to be very careful that our decisions don't have long lasting negative effects. Please let's not go down this path.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your comments. All of them are respected and helpful. May the Lord continue to give us wisdom as we move forward.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!