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A Gift from the church?

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Salty, Nov 8, 2008.

  1. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    Catholic Charities here in the Salt City (and I'm sure elsewhere) has a program where they encourage local churches to "adopt" a family for Christmas.

    When the church chooses to participate, Catholic Charities will provide the church with family info - gender and age only. You are then asked to purchase gifts for each in the family. The church will then deliver the gifts to Catholic Charities who in turn present the gifts to the family.

    Another words no one in the church is given the identity of the family - not even the pastor.

    The pastor is permitted to include info on the church - if the family decides to initiate contact - that is fine.

    So would you encourage your church to participate in this program?
     
  2. SaggyWoman

    SaggyWoman Active Member

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    So, you only help people to get them to your church?
     
  3. donnA

    donnA Active Member

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    In our old church we did angel tree every year. Our class sponsored it, and I was the class secretary so I handled the whole thing. We chose to call the family resource center of our local school, they do angel tree every year. we'd tall them how many children we wanted. they'd give us the families sign up sheets, I had names addresses, needs and wish lists. And I was the only one with the information. The only other person besides me who knew anything was anyone helping to deliver from our class, which was never many, usually just me and my husband. we did not identify to the families which church we were from, we didn't want to advertise our particular church, but Jesus.
     
  4. tinytim

    tinytim <img src =/tim2.jpg>

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    Yes, we have done so in the past...
     
  5. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    We'd not do it through another organization. We have been able to get names of families in need through word of mouth, our crisis pregnancy center and a local missions. We have direct contact with the family and we will either drop off the gifts at their home or they come to the church. We have more than enough members and needy families that we can do a good number on our own.
     
  6. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    A resounding no.

    Why give the Catholic church a reason to look more attractive?

    Also, I used to live in a town where ALL the churches stopped helping people and instead, they donated to Catholic Charities, which did a wonderful job and took the time to root out those in need from those who just wanted a handout or who weren't being honest.

    However, they weren't very "Christian" and didn't use common sense, they used policies and procedures.

    When members of a local church would go for help, imagine their reaction at being told no and sent to the Catholic Charity.

    Places like that may make donating and doing your duty all easy and clean and take the work off your hands, but for the life of me I can't get why any decent Christian church, let alone a Baptist one, would voluntarily align herself with the Catholic church and do so in a way that is very visible and takes eyes away from one of the most visible functions of a church.
     
  7. donnA

    donnA Active Member

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    I was thinking something like this earlier when I posted, but wasn't sure how I wanted to word it.
    It would look to the recieving families as if the catholic church gave them the gifts, and would be a promotion of RCC.
     
  8. abcgrad94

    abcgrad94 Active Member

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    I couldn't do it in good conscience. It might be a case where your good deeds could be evil spoken of, and it might confuse unbelievers or new believers into accepting RCC doctrine later. Now, if the church was given names and contact info so you could visit the families and witness to them yourself, that would be different.
     
  9. Gold Dragon

    Gold Dragon Well-Known Member

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    Sounds pretty similar to Operation Christmas Child.
     
  10. Jon-Marc

    Jon-Marc New Member

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    I was a member of one church that had that program. I was also a member of a church that had a food pantry. Once a week they gave food to needy people. The people had to fill out paperwork showing that they were needy and why and listen to a sermon before getting the food. Many have supposedly been led to the Lord through that program. I have no doubt that some lied about their circumstances and didn't mention that their money went for illegal drugs, booze or both.
     
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