Christian Antipoverty Campaigns

SEVERAL TIMES IN THE New Testament, offerings for the poor, especially those at Jerusalem, are mentioned. These were in part a response to the First Church Council in Jerusalem, in which Paul's ministry to the Gentiles was affirmed and he was charged to “remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10). These references show that since the beginning of the church, Christians have been aiding the poor. Today a vast number of programs are under way not only to provide relief, but to eliminate poverty altogether.

Christian antipoverty programs occur at the local church, regional, national, and international levels and in recent times at a global level. Some of the antipoverty programs are church-based and some are parachurch in nature.

The ecclesiastical antipoverty programs begin with the local church and the individual Christian. There is hardly a church that does not have some kind of fund to at least provide relief for the poor. The churches in the countries and areas where Christianity has been long established are usually wealthier. Most of these are engaged in numerous local ministries for the poor. Churches, no matter how small, give to a variety of ministries to the poor. Many aid local people who call asking for help with fuel, medicine, food, and all manner of assistance. Local programs can include food [Page 166]banks and soup kitchens, adult and childcare, Meals on Wheels, Room in the Inn for Abused Women, and numerous other charitable actions.

For churches of over 100 or so members there is usually a food pantry, clothes closet, and numerous offerings for special projects to aid the poor locally or in some foreign mission. Some of these local offerings may be for something like the PATH program in Cherokee Presbytery (northwest Georgia) of the Presbyterian Church (USA). PATH is the Presbyterian Answer to Hunger. Church members save two cents for every meal each year, which is about $23 per person per year. The change is collected about Thanksgiving time and used to feed the hungry in the region and for food supplement programs in Nicaragua or Ghana. This example could be matched by thousands of unique ways in which local churches unite to aid the poor.

The giving by individual Christians to all manner of charitable causes is rarely recognized as Christian giving because it is hidden by a general appeal. Americans giving over $1 billion to relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005 included a great many people of no faith, as well as all kinds of faith, including Christians.

All of the mainline Protestant churches give to offerings such as the One Great Hour of Sharing, which is an interdenominational donation for helping the poor. Roman Catholics use Catholic Relief Services and other organizations. Mennonites use the Mennonite Central Committee. Both orthodox churches and Protestants have joined together in organizations such as Church World Service. Many of these programs are linked to a network of antipoverty organizations.

Charitable activities such as these have gone on for generations. These offerings have ministered not only to the local poor, but to those in the poorest countries. Missionaries have long appealed to Christians in established churches for help.

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