Overview

The church doorstep is a frequent destination for people in need. But most churches alone cannot fully meet the needs of every family living in poverty, disabled individual, senior citizen, single parent, or others who need a helping hand.

Or can they?

Love In the Name of Christ enables churches in a community to coordinate their resources and services so that those in need are not turned away.

As churches join together to show Christ's love to their neighbors, communities see exciting results:

• People in need receive immediate and long-term help.
• Church members use their unique gifts and talents through specific, manageable opportunities to serve others.
• Local churches work together, across denominational lines, modeling unity of the Body of Christ.
• Lives and communities are transformed.

The story of one Love INC affiliate . . .

The challenge: Christian leaders in a Midwest city realized that though their community had many churches, few were working together. Some people in need received help, but others simply cycled from church to church. Few lives improved enough to actually break through poverty.

The solution: Christian leaders in this community formed a Love INC affiliate in order to mobilize its churches to work together. Using the Love INC model, they inventoried the resources of the community including social service agencies, church outreach ministries, and the talents of the people in the pews. Next, they matched those resources with people in need. Then, church members were trained by Love INC to walk alongside people in need with the network of relationships and supportive services that together transform lives.

The impact: Today this Love INC affiliate represents a network of more than 80 churches working in unity to love their neighbors. They are reaching the real needs of more than 7,000 people each year through life skills training, affordable housing, job training, day care, transportation, parenting resources, and more. And through caring relationships they are offering the greatest gift of all: hope.

Levels of Service

There are three levels to the Love INC model, and each affiliate has the opportunity to minister to people in need on all three levels. Each level goes deeper in fulfilling Love INC's mission to mobilize the Church to transform lives and communities In the Name of Christ.

Level One: The Clearinghouse model is the foundation of all Love INC affiliates and includes these basic steps:

1. 1. Receive request for help. Requests for help are received in the Love INC Clearinghouse either directly from a person in need or when a person is referred to Love INC by a local agency or church.
2. Assess the need. Trained Love INC volunteers or staff screen the request to determine legitimacy and extent of the need, and to discover any deeper issues fueling the crisis. Love INC determines what help the client has already received from agencies or churches, and ensures the need is manageable and specific.
3. Refer to help. Love INC connects the need to the most appropriate church ministry, church volunteer, and/or local agency and the need is met.
4. Follow up. Love INC reviews the outcome. Was the immediate need met? Is there a core issue that requires longer-term attention? The follow-up also provides an opportunity for the recipient to become connected to a local church if he or she desires.

Through the Clearinghouse, Love INC also identifies gaps in services and resources in the community, and helps churches develop ministries to "fill in the gaps" not being met by agencies or the government.

These Gap Ministries constantly grow and evolve as needs become known. Most Love INC networks include a wide array of Gap Ministries, including food pantries, clothes closets, health care and prescription medication advocacy, senior care, transportation, home repair, auto repair, hair cut services, laundry services, sewing ministries, school supplies, furniture, baby cribs and baby supplies, bedding and blankets, personal care items, and many more. Love INC helps coordinate these ministries by procuring items from the entire network to supply these outreaches with the resources they need. Love INC then refers verified needs through its Clearinghouse to the ministry. Love INC also helps promote the Gap Ministry to the community and facilitates sharing of best practices to grow the ministry.

Level Two: In addition to the Clearinghouse, many Love INC affiliates have added Relational Ministry to help individuals and families in chronic need make lasting changes in their lives. Through this holistic, comprehensive approach, Love INC trains church members from across many denominations to walk alongside people in need for an extended period of time (one year or more) in order to help them overcome their problems and move toward self-sufficiency. Relational Ministry provides people in need with caring and nurturing relationships in a structured environment that includes skills training, mentoring, goal setting, and spiritual and emotional support. Relational Ministry also surrounds people in need with the full array of church and community resources available through the Love INC Clearinghouse.

Level Three: As Love INC affiliates mature and build their capacity to provide short-term and long-term help to people in need, they become more deeply involved with the community, aware of underlying or systemic problems, and capable of being a catalyst for change. Through Comprehensive Community Development, Love INC affiliates address the deeper issues that contribute to poverty and hopelessness, such as lack of affordable housing, health care, and employment opportunities.