Helping churches help churches: the working motto of diaconate. A motto and working method that requires constant thinking through. Would you like to think along with us? We would greatly appreciate it!
Photo: Raju Adhikari of the churches in Nepal was recently visiting our country. He thanked us as CGK for our help. In the Zwolle congregation, he told us about his work and we gave him and the churches in Nepal a blessing.
Helping through churches has long-term impact
An important question for this 'working motto' is: what is the essence of church aid? As Diaconate CGK, we organised an expert meeting to this end, with leaders of Christian NGOs. The NGOs indicated that providing aid through churches is not easy for them: they have to meet high requirements, which involves a lot of costs.
The advantage of church aid is that there are low indirect costs and funds are spent efficiently. After all, there are no donors or governments looking over the shoulders and making high demands. The main observation at this expert meeting? Working through churches has a long-term impact. Because when aid leaves from abroad, churches remain present. Because of the church embedding, the impact is large and long-lasting.
The church sometimes hangs around a bit
As Diaconate CGK, we are additionally discussing the relationship between churches and (Christian) organisations. Christian organisations have mostly taken over the execution of 'kingdom tasks'. Cors Visser observes in his book 'De Spelende Kerk' that in the Netherlands many churches - unlike churches abroad - have outsourced care for others to organisations. Churches do collect for this care, but mostly do not do the implementation themselves.
A great fact: volunteers in our country largely come from the churches! But their involvement in the project is often outside the congregation. The downside of all this is that the faith community has no real relationship with the recipient. There is prayer and encouragement to give, but 'it all kind of hangs out there'. The word of God is proclaimed, but living it out is not done as a community. So that churches are more 'private clubhouses' than public communities (George Harinck). Churchgoers complain that sermons are mostly about spiritual aspects and that everyday life is not included. Can this be done differently?
The Bible gives us and beautiful example
In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, we read the example of how churches in Greece helped the church of Jerusalem in supporting the poor. People were connected by faith in Jesus Christ as well as by the visibility of missionary/diaconal workers. Helping is a key word in these chapters, connecting rich and poor.
This help is about mercy: caring for people in social and societal pinch situations. But it is also about justice: '... He has scattered, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever.' (2 Cor. 9:9) Mercy and justice on behalf of Jesus Christ and from the Christian community.
The goal? An increase in love to people inside and outside the community. And together praising God, who gives us to each other. Isn't there plenty of room for that in the services?
Why should churches help churches?
Church leaders 'overseas' tend to have a natural eye for the weak and vulnerable from their pastoral and diaconal mission. Therefore, as Diaconate CGK, we mainly seek out projects involving a local church.
These churches are deeply rooted in the communities and are the key to profound change, both in the relationship to God and in the relationship to each other (systemic change). This is certainly a factor in Africa that the Dutch government totally overlooks in its recently published 'Africa Note'. Government-dependent NGOs also tend to choose a non-denominational track, which can lead to more unstable countries (Albert Hengelaar, ND 6 June 2023).
Churches here and there
Diaconate is keen to 'help' churches, through diaconates: connecting local churches in the Netherlands with local churches abroad involved in a project. We are working on these connections, but it deserves further thought and also concretisation.
Are you thinking with us? Suggestions are very welcome. As a church, would you like to 'help a church help'? Please contact us at diaconaat@cgk.nl.
Erjan van der Linde, diaconal consultant
