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Helping in Hard Times
During this year of economic upheaval, churches around the country are exploring new ways to offer help to the unemployed. Here are four churches making a difference for their members and their communities.
Pantano Christian Church
Tucson, Arizona
Pantano encourages its members to create new “life groups” to meet needs or serve others, and PCC’s outreach to the unemployed began with small groups serving business leaders and job seekers.
“Last fall I started hearing about more layoffs, so I asked these two groups to help me brainstorm ideas for a jobs seminar,” says Bill Fisher, pathway pastor.
The team expanded the vision to create a full day of workshops and services. Doug Mays, a community relationship leader at Jobing.com, presented a session on personal branding, and Glen Elliott, Pantano’s lead pastor, spoke about the struggles and opportunities of dealing with change.
Other speakers offered pointers on résumé writing, starting a business, and using county employment resources. The day ended with a “job fair” featuring opportunities at local businesses.
“Many of these people had worked at their company for 20 years,” Fisher says. “Acknowledging the loss of their previous job and preparing to jump back into the market requires a huge adjustment and some new skills.”
Pantano will offer a second Business Fair this month.
“Finding a job is all about relationships, and church is all about relationships,” Fisher says. “It seems a natural fit to help people this way.”
www.pccwired.org
Southeast Christian Church
Parker, Colorado
Southeast has also offered large group opportunities for enhancing job search skills, but finds its most successful initiatives are one-on-one.
“We e-mailed our members and asked managers and business owners to share their job openings with our church family before placing the ads publicly,” says Eric Carson, spiritual formation coordinator. “That was a Tuesday at 11:00 am. By 11:30 I’d received three e-mails, and we continue to receive more.”
Carson adds the openings to Southeast’s online job board, another resource for members and regular attendees. He also transformed a section of the church lobby to create a Business Center with computers hooked up to the Internet and high-quality printers for résumés and cover letters. Users pay no hourly or per-page fees for any service, and the center is open Monday through Friday.
www.sechristian.org
Velocity Christian Church
Richmond, Virginia
Each Thursday night, about a dozen recently unemployed people—some Velocity members, some not—gather as a “Career Transition Group” at the church. Each meeting includes time for the spiritual (how am I doing with God during this difficult time?), the practical (résumés, interviewing skills, etc.), and networking.
Guest speakers like Bud Whitehouse, director of Career Management of Virginia, occasionally share special presentations, and the group recently partnered with the Virginia Career Network, a larger organization with more than 500 members throughout Richmond.
www.velocitychurch.com
Westbrook Christian Church
Bolingbrook, Illinois
Westbrook also provides a variety of guest speakers and expert perspectives, but its Career Connection group incorporates elements of accountability and personal support for each job seeker, as well.
“These groups aren’t very effective unless participants have someone who will consistently ask about progress (or lack of progress) and speak truth in love,” says Gary O’Hara, who helped launch the group last year. “It’s too easy to lose focus and become disheartened.”
O’Hara hopes Career Connection will serve both the Westbrook family and the broader Chicago area. “I’ve dealt with ‘career transition’ four times,” he says, smiling at the euphemism. “I wanted others in our community, regardless of their faith background, to learn from my experiences and from the many other Westbrook members who can help.”
www.westbrookchurch.org
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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