From Handouts to Relationships – Building a Better Benevolence Ministry, by Justin Lonas of The Chalmers Center

From our 2025 True Charity Summit national conference ('Ascend'): a breakout session by Justin Lonas of The Chalmers Center. Local churches and community ministries that provide goods and services often struggle to develop and implement an effective benevolence ministry. You may feel overwhelmed by the needs in your community. You may feel powerless to help people in the "right way." You may feel frustrated because long-term change is hard to see. You may be afraid of "doing it wrong" or enabling destructive habits. Helping someone move from crisis to long-term change feels overwhelming, messy, and complicated. Without the skills and confidence to apply a biblical framework for poverty alleviation to your benevolence ministry, it can be hard to move your ministry forward from just a transactional meeting of needs to a healthy, relationship-based, transformational approach. In this breakout, we'll unfold a biblical vision for effective benevolence and talk about five key elements of a sustainable church or nonprofit benevolence program: Defining your mission and policy Building a welcoming intake process Building participatory action plans with ministry participants recruiting, training, and retaining volunteers Building effective church and community partnerships for wrap-around services. This educational content is just the tip of the iceberg for practical resources available through the True Charity Network. Check out how it can help you learn, connect, and influence here. Already a member? Access all your benefits through the member portal.