Strangers at the Door
A shabbily dressed stranger walks into the church office wanting money for a meal.
A needy mother explains she can't come up with the rent money this month.
A transient needs a place to spend the night and asks to sleep in the church. What do you do?
The Church of the Nazarene in Newberg, Oregon, is located near a highway and averages three or four outsiders a month asking for help.
"With the present economy, I've noticed an increase in the number of people who really need help," says Pastor Bill O'Connor. "These aren't the "professional transients," but people recently unemployed who are on their way to Portland looking for work. Sometimes they run out of money and need bus fare to make it the rest of the way.
"Since I'm the one most often called upon to deal with these people, our church board set up a special Pastor's Discretionary Fund to help."
That fund—an interest-bearing checking account—has a $250 monthly limit. Whenever a worthy need comes along, O'Connor writes a check. Anything spent is replaced at the first of each month, when O'Connor submits to the board his written report of the fund's activity.
"We don't give funds directly to the person asking," he says. "We have a credit arrangement with a nearby restaurant and motel. Sometimes we'll make out a check to the grocery store, landlord, or bus company. That way we make sure the money is used as intended.
"The fund works well and eliminates the need of turning deserving persons away for lack of resources."
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