Community outreach question.

[Lapey]

I was just wondering if any of your parishes or church group offer community outreach programs such as support groups.

With this I mean local people helping local people with personal issues such as; alcohol or drug abuse, parenting, financial counseling, job training and placement.

Most church groups have “soup kitchens” or food distribution, but what about these other issues the real families deal with daily?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[jpk1313]

where I am (winnipeg MB canada) I know there are a few like AA and like groups but they are not promoted as much as they should be. you really need to dig for them, which is kinda stupid the church needs to be more vocal about its services.

 

[ParkerD]

I was just wondering if any of your parishes or church group offer community outreach programs such as support groups.

With this I mean local people helping local people with personal issues such as; alcohol or drug abuse, parenting, financial counseling, job training and placement.

Most church groups have “soup kitchens” or food distribution, but what about these other issues the real families deal with daily?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Lapey,
You have asked a very important question here. If you had meant to ask other religions besides those who are Catholic (not sure but I assume you did mean to do that), then I could answer “yes” as to the Mormon church (LDS Church) doing that, mostly involving members so perhaps that is not what you meant when you asked about “community outreach.” I agree that those other issues are important, and that coming unto Christ offers solutions for those issues; however, coming unto Christ is a first step, not a later step, so receiving such help is interconnected with coming unto Christ and finding His healing influence in personal, everyday experiences and personal, everyday lives. Often times that healing is done through people helping people, with Christ at the center of that helping, through His loving grace and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit guiding people in what to say and what to do.

 

[Lapey]

Lapey,
You have asked a very important question here. If you had meant to ask other religions besides those who are Catholic (not sure but I assume you did mean to do that), then I could answer “yes” as to the Mormon church (LDS Church) doing that, mostly involving members so perhaps that is not what you meant when you asked about “community outreach.” I agree that those other issues are important, and that coming unto Christ offers solutions for those issues; however, coming unto Christ is a first step, not a later step, so receiving such help is interconnected with coming unto Christ and finding His healing influence in personal, everyday experiences and personal, everyday lives. Often times that healing is done through people helping people, with Christ at the center of that helping, through His loving grace and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit guiding people in what to say and what to do.

Denomination doesn’t matter. I was just wondering if, in the local community, you were offering this type of support groups.

The question came up the other day from one of the kids in the confirmation class that I help teach. A young lady in the class asked me about an issue she was going through in her family and wanted to know what to do. Her dad is an alcoholic and he is trying to get his life straight. Here’s the problem she has, her dad has started going to a non-denominational church in a close by town because they have a support group that meets weekly.

Her strong faith is leading her to complete confirmation, but she was torn between going with her parents to the non-denon or refusing. I suggested she honor what her parents are asking her to do for the sake of her father and family as a whole. She was a little baffled that I told her to go with her parents.

But I did let her know that her parents should honor her request to go to Catholic Sunday Mass, and complete confirmation, so far they have done so.

I brought this up at a parish planning meeting and it was like, why didn’t we think of this before. So hopefully we will work on getting this done, and I was wondering if anyone had information or ideas to help us get it started in my parish. I don’t care if the information comes from outside the RCC, as long as it helps people the Spirit will endorse the program.

Also the other topics, parenting, marriage support, job placement and training, financial counciling, all of these issues families face.

Thanks,

 

[Wesley7]

Basically, it can be social group. It helps to speak with a/the orthodox priest.