Our FOUR Initiatives FOR OUR NEIGHBORS
God is very clear about what is most important. LOVE GOD and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.
In Matthew 22 Jesus tells the crowd, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Charity Lutheran Church seeks to follow these commandments in our immediate community in four distinct and strategic ways.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
We are for: fun and friends.
Neighbors play, talk, laugh, and eat together. Yet with busy lives and sometimes limited resources, we don’t always have opportunities to have fun together in safe, positive environments. Several times a year we will have big events so we can build relationships and enjoy time with one another.
More about our next event?
MEETING NEIGHBORS’ EMOTIONAL NEEDS
We are for: living life with our neighbors.
Neighbors help one another. They do life together and take care of each other when needs arise. Through various ministries, we love reaching out to meet, encourage, support, or bring healing to those around us.
There are many other groups and ministries you that exist to meet these needs. Click below to find out what’s happening at Charity right now.
MEETING NEIGHBORS’ PHYSICAL NEEDS
We are for: sharing our blessings.
We strive to be good neighbors to those at in our area by caring for their needs and providing necessary items that make life better, like school supplies, food, and clothing. We maintain a collection box for 701 Closet, which is a resource for families in the broader Bismarck community.
Another way we help meet material needs is THE HELPER LIST. Many times families who are struggling will reach out to a trusted source for help with things they cannot afford. Through our partnership with our neighborhood school, Centennial Elementary, we have the opportunity to help meet some of these requests. Thee requests are often something small, such as a pair of snow boots for Mom, a winter coat for Dad, or a couple of new shirts for a student who is growing too quickly to keep up with! When those requests come to us, we contact the next person on The Helper List to see if they can meet that need. If that helper is unable to meet the need at that time for any reason, we continue to move down the list. Anyone can sign up to be a helper!
PARTNERING WITH A SCHOOL
We are for: kids and their families.
There are currently about 90 elementary aged students in our neighborhood elementary school who are living below the poverty level. They and their families have a variety of needs that regularly go unmet. We work with Centennial Elementary throughout the year to meet those needs in various ways.
In the fall, we donate school supplies and backpacks. This year our elementary classes collected over 1,000 pairs of socks that were distributed to several nearby schools for students in need. At Christmas time we provide food and gifts for students and their families through our Advent Family Mission.