If you think about the early church, what is the most amazing and standout characteristic of their life together? Was it the miracles? Was it the passion? What made people stand up and notice them?
Perhaps it was how well they took care of one another. One of the first things you notice about the early church when you read the book of Acts is their strong desire to help the poorer Christians. Luke keeps pointing this out:
All who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
(Acts 2)
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common… There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
(Acts 4)
This meant that nobody who was part of the church family went short. It got a bit complicated, of course, which is why the Apostles had to sort out the mess by appointing some excellent leaders (see Acts 6).
We live in a different age, and poverty is not the same thing today living in London as it was back then. But, needs arise and the church is still a family. We’re even more aware of this right now, given how much uncertainty there is.
Therefore, as a church we are setting up a Mercy Fund to help anyone in the church who finds themselves in need and without support. This money will be held separately from our normal funds, and will only be used for the purpose of helping people.
If you are keen to give to this, please simply add the word ‘MERCY’ to your reference when you give online, or select the Mercy Fund when you give via the online portal. To learn more about this fund, please read this linked document.
We do ask that you consider this giving as over and above your normal giving to the church. (And please be assured that if the need is there, church money will be directed to this special fund as we consider this form of generosity an absolute priority.)
Lastly, it goes without saying that if you find yourself in financial need during this crisis we would love for you to get in touch with the Care Team using the form below and one of the deacons in this team – Megan Howe, Jen Moses, or Hugh van Niekirk – will be in touch.
UPDATE: We are pausing donations to the fund, as we have more than enough at present to help those in need. However, if you are in financial problems, please do not hesitate to get in touch!