Deacon/Benevolence

Since the Bible frequently commands us to help those in need, the benevolence ministry was established early in the church's history to aid those of our church family who need financial aid. While ministries such as Fruit of the Vine, the free Medical Clinics, and Homeless Camps reach out to the poor of our community, the benevolence ministry is designed to help members and attendees of the Vineyard who have emergency financial needs that affect their health, safety, and welfare.

The origins of the benevolence ministry date back to the early 1980s. Around the time that three independent churches combined to form Christ Community Church, several deacons including Frank Kay, Bill Haddon, and Jim Tate took on the job of dealing with financial requests. At this stage, the deacons handled all aspects of the ministry.

As the church grew, more requests for help came in and more resources were available to fill the need. Therefore, a more structured method of dealing with these situations was developed. One of the church's pastors was put in charge of a group of deacons who functioned as the primary contacts with people in need. One of the deacons would interview a requester and then present the details of the case along with his recommendations to the pastor who made the decision as to the distribution of financial aid. Guidelines were developed establishing the amount that could be given, to whom aid could be given, and what kind of needs the church could help with. Currently, although there has been some "tweaking" of procedures, the ministry functions in the same manner.

The benevolence ministry also manages the Vineyard Christmas outreach to the poor. The first such ministry began as the annual Christmas Gift Tree. Tags representing presents for needy families were hung from a Christmas Tree in the church lobby. Members of the congregation would then take tags from the tree and provide the present for the family represented by the tag. Soon, with church growth, this system became difficult to manage and a new system was developed called Mission Merry Christmas. A pool of donations from the congregation was used to provide gifts for families who requested or were nominated for Christmas gift help. In 2006 the focus of the program was changed to place more of an emphasis on children and the name was changed to Vineyard Christmas for Kids.