| SERVANTS QUARTERS |
Rising Christian leaders working for nonprofits too often struggle to make
ends meet. Financial adversity tends to be the norm and not the exception,
particularly in an area like Washington, DC where decent housing is rarely
affordable. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2006 median annual
salary for religious workers (other than clergy) in the DC area ranged from
$23,630 to $31,080. Affordability statistics published by the National Low
Income Housing Coalition indicate that this is only about one-half to two-
thirds of the $45,360 salary needed to afford the average rent for a one-
bedroom apartment in this area. This financial stress leaves our young leaders
more vulnerable to discouragement, fatigue and the siren songs of popular
culture, which prioritize and romanticize the pursuit of money, material
comfort and self-indulgence. The SERVANTS QUARTERS program is an
effort to defend the Church, and hence the wider culture, against these
dangers.
As a first line of defense, SERVANTS QUARTERS seeks to address the
immediate financial needs of its participants by providing monetary
assistance. We appreciate that financial hardship, like any trial, can produce
spiritual fruit. See Hebrews 12:7-11. But it is not our place to create, or fail to
alleviate, such hardship in the name of administering godly discipline. The
Church must care for those who serve it. See 1 Corinthians 9:11-12; Galatians
6:6; 1 Timothy 5:17-18. We must not limit our response to words of concern
and encouragement. See James 2:15-16. Young Christian leaders in nonprofit
ministry need this assistance so that they may live in the world that they have
been called to serve. Typical past awards have been $9,000 per participant.
Helping young Christian leaders to be in the world is not enough. Indeed, it
could prove counterproductive if we don’t simultaneously help them not to be
of the world. The second line of defense of SERVANTS QUARTERS takes
aim at this problem. If young Christian leaders were armed with a deeper
biblical understanding of how the world works, along with additional tools of
spiritual discipline, they would be more likely to overcome discouragement
and fatigue and resist the forces of materialism, persevering longer and with
greater joy in nonprofit ministry.
Unfortunately, too few Bible colleges, seminaries and churches offer
worldview training – and it shows. Only 8 percent of American Protestants
and less than one-half of one percent of Catholics have a biblical
understanding of how the world works and the role that God has bestowed on
humans. See The Barna Update, August 9, 2005. The figures are better but
still surprisingly low among church leaders: only 51 percent of Protestant
Pastors have a biblical worldview. See The Barna Update, January 12, 2004.
We hope to overcome this failing, in some small way, by engaging
SERVANTS QUARTERS participants in meaningful worldview studies, with
a special emphasis on stewardship principles. They, in turn, agree to integrate
the teaching of biblical worldview and stewardship principles into their
existing ministry efforts. As students become teachers, and one generation
instructs the next, we can begin to envision how Christ may use the Church to
redeem the culture – one person, one conversation at a time.
For us to serve well in Christ’s campaign to redeem the world from the grip of
materialism, we must cultivate and deepen our own relationship with Him,
bridging the gap between professed beliefs and behavior. We must learn to
live in deep community with one another, so that the relationships we
experience with our senses match the unseen reality that is the Body of Christ.
Next >
ends meet. Financial adversity tends to be the norm and not the exception,
particularly in an area like Washington, DC where decent housing is rarely
affordable. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2006 median annual
salary for religious workers (other than clergy) in the DC area ranged from
$23,630 to $31,080. Affordability statistics published by the National Low
Income Housing Coalition indicate that this is only about one-half to two-
thirds of the $45,360 salary needed to afford the average rent for a one-
bedroom apartment in this area. This financial stress leaves our young leaders
more vulnerable to discouragement, fatigue and the siren songs of popular
culture, which prioritize and romanticize the pursuit of money, material
comfort and self-indulgence. The SERVANTS QUARTERS program is an
effort to defend the Church, and hence the wider culture, against these
dangers.
As a first line of defense, SERVANTS QUARTERS seeks to address the
immediate financial needs of its participants by providing monetary
assistance. We appreciate that financial hardship, like any trial, can produce
spiritual fruit. See Hebrews 12:7-11. But it is not our place to create, or fail to
alleviate, such hardship in the name of administering godly discipline. The
Church must care for those who serve it. See 1 Corinthians 9:11-12; Galatians
6:6; 1 Timothy 5:17-18. We must not limit our response to words of concern
and encouragement. See James 2:15-16. Young Christian leaders in nonprofit
ministry need this assistance so that they may live in the world that they have
been called to serve. Typical past awards have been $9,000 per participant.
Helping young Christian leaders to be in the world is not enough. Indeed, it
could prove counterproductive if we don’t simultaneously help them not to be
of the world. The second line of defense of SERVANTS QUARTERS takes
aim at this problem. If young Christian leaders were armed with a deeper
biblical understanding of how the world works, along with additional tools of
spiritual discipline, they would be more likely to overcome discouragement
and fatigue and resist the forces of materialism, persevering longer and with
greater joy in nonprofit ministry.
Unfortunately, too few Bible colleges, seminaries and churches offer
worldview training – and it shows. Only 8 percent of American Protestants
and less than one-half of one percent of Catholics have a biblical
understanding of how the world works and the role that God has bestowed on
humans. See The Barna Update, August 9, 2005. The figures are better but
still surprisingly low among church leaders: only 51 percent of Protestant
Pastors have a biblical worldview. See The Barna Update, January 12, 2004.
We hope to overcome this failing, in some small way, by engaging
SERVANTS QUARTERS participants in meaningful worldview studies, with
a special emphasis on stewardship principles. They, in turn, agree to integrate
the teaching of biblical worldview and stewardship principles into their
existing ministry efforts. As students become teachers, and one generation
instructs the next, we can begin to envision how Christ may use the Church to
redeem the culture – one person, one conversation at a time.
For us to serve well in Christ’s campaign to redeem the world from the grip of
materialism, we must cultivate and deepen our own relationship with Him,
bridging the gap between professed beliefs and behavior. We must learn to
live in deep community with one another, so that the relationships we
experience with our senses match the unseen reality that is the Body of Christ.
Next >
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© 2008 TRUTH AND GRACE VENTURES