By Jennifer Taylor 
After studying Nehemiah and the offering recorded in its final chapters, First Christian Church in Champaign, IL, collected its own special offering as a response of gratitude for God”s goodness””then gave some of it back to FCC members.
Senior pastor J.P. Jones and his team designated $20,000 of the offering for the local community and involved the church in giving it away. Each week for four weeks, a different group received $5,000 with instructions to use the money to meet the needs of others on behalf of the church.
The team selected a variety of people to participate, including a small group of junior and senior high school students and their leaders and a family with several generations worshipping at FCC.
“On week three we chose a senior adult who gathers with an eclectic group of retired guys each Wednesday for breakfast,” Jones says. “We challenged him to involve them.”
Each group also received a handheld video camera to record their journey; FCC edited the resulting footage to create videos that shared the inspiring stories with the whole church.
On the final week, 50 people entering the weekend service were randomly asked to participate and given envelopes with $100. FCC will wrap up the emphasis with a “Be the Church” service project Sunday at the end of the summer.
“The whole process is designed to build an awareness of meeting others” needs and living beyond ourselves,” Jones says.
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