The Church at Work in Benevolence<\/a>.” These funds helped Christians survive. It is not an insurance program.<\/p>\nThere is no requirement that a congregation own a building. Those who choose to own a building do so because it is cheaper than renting a facility. Thus, replacing a building is a hardship for a congregation, but not necessary for the group’s survival.<\/p>\n
Funds were sent to the elders of each congregation. I would suppose that if a congregation had no elders, then it would be sent to the congregation as a whole. It would not be sent to a preacher, since a single man would be handling the money. There needs to be accountability. “Taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift; <\/em>for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men<\/em>” (II Corinthians 8:20-21). Besides, this man suggests that aid to multiple congregations be sent through him. There is no example of this.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: Brother Hamilton, I have already read several of your articles on benevolence, and they are quite useful.\u00a0I was hoping that you could provide some answers to the following. A church is hit by a natural disaster, and brethren have damage to their homes and vehicles. There is also damage to several church buildings. A…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[194],"class_list":["post-96218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-benevolence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36850,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-far-can-a-church-go-in-assisting-a-congregation-in-a-disaster-area\/","url_meta":{"origin":96218,"position":0},"title":"How far can a church go in assisting a congregation in a disaster area?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How far can a congregation go to help another congregation in need? For example several states away a congregation's building gets destroyed by a hurricane along with several members homes. Because of the devastation, they have no access to building supply stores and the like. They are not just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19669,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-church-pay-school-fees-as-an-act-of-benevolence-if-the-student-has-no-family\/","url_meta":{"origin":96218,"position":1},"title":"Can a church pay school fees as an act of benevolence if the student has no family?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please, brother, can a church pay school fees as an act of benevolence if the student has no family? Answer: \"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23487,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-teach-someone-about-the-proper-way-to-do-benevolence\/","url_meta":{"origin":96218,"position":2},"title":"How do I teach someone about the proper way to do benevolence?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am a newer Christian and love your site. Thanks so much for making it available. While I have much growth spiritually, know that you are helping me to grow. My cousin and I do not agree on the benevolence work of an individual Christian vs. the Local\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39434,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-preacher-oversees-several-congregations-what-do-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":96218,"position":3},"title":"My preacher oversees several congregations. What do I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: God bless you for your detailed explanation of congregational cooperation. However, I'm still confused. My preacher is an overseer of many local congregations in our community. He appoints the preachers of such congregations, takes their offerings, sets up their church buildings, and makes decisions and policies for them. Unfortunately,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61305,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-benevolence\/","url_meta":{"origin":96218,"position":4},"title":"Notes on Benevolence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Acts 11:29-30 Romans 12:13 Romans 15:26-27 I Corinthians 16:1-3 II Corinthians 8:1-8 Ephesians 4:28 See Also: Notes on Church Spending","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70122,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/institutionalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":96218,"position":5},"title":"Institutionalism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chris Reeves Truth Magazine August 2024 Christians today who were not raised during the institutional battles among brethren in the 1950s and 1960s would do well to learn the issues that divide us today. Having learned these issues,\u00a0they can then teach others the truth concerning the work and organization\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96239,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96218\/revisions\/96239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}