ONE SUNDAY THE CHURCH GAVE BACK....

This Church Needed The Money, But Gave $500 To Every Member To Go Do Good In The World

After receiving an unexpected windfall of $1.6 million, a small Chicago church took a giant leap of faith earlier this month: it choose to give a chunk of the money away to congregants, with little more than a modest request for how it was to be spent.

Members of the the LaSalle Street Church in Chicago's Near North Side were shocked when Pastor Laura Truax told them during services September 7 that each "actively engaged" member of the church would receive a check for $500. The money came with no conditions, but recipients were encouraged to use it for good works.
aust
"It feels like a faith experiment more than a social experiment," Truax told The Huffington Post. "We say we trust the Gospel, we say we trust each other. But I was wondering, 'Is this going to be a waste of money?'"

Church elders deliberated for months over how to spend the money -- an unexpected windfall from a real estate investment made in the 1970s -- mulling options that included a housing investment and an Ebola clinic in Africa. They agreed that while they'd eventually determine how to give all the money away, 10 percent would go to the congregation up front. In all, the church wrote 320 $500 checks to members deemed "actively engaged" with their "time, talents or treasures."

Invoking the Biblical parable of Jesus feeding multitudes with nothing but a small amount of food, the money quickly became known to the social justice-minded congregation as the "Loaves and Fishes" checks. And church members immediately started thinking of ways the money could make a bigger impact in the world.

One church member, John Bakker, wants to use his $500 to help the non-profit World Vision create an Ebola education campaign in West Africa by leveraging social media the way the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge did so successfully.