Community groups at Quest have a simple goal: "a place to belong, believe, and become." We want c-groups to be a place where people feel valued and heard, where their spiritual roots grow deeper through study and conversation, and where they become doers of justice, mercy, and compassion. That last aspect, become, may well be the hardest to do because it requires change and stepping out to serve our neighbors. So, along those lines we are launching a c-group in Jan. specifically aimed at becoming as well as doing our second annual Good Neighbor Fund. The Good Neighbor Fund is our attempt to spark the imaginations of our c-groups and give them just a bit of a push to be the hands and feet of Jesus to their neighbors. We give each group $200 and ask them to creatively use it to simply serve their fellow Seattlites. Last year we had everything from dinners being made and relationships formed with a small Karen church to a speed dating fundraiser. Below is a letter from a case manager at Elder Health that greatly encouraged me about what can happen when our imaginations are put to the service of the Kingdom of God:
Dear Quest Church,
I
am writing to say thank you for a generous donation given over the past
summer to ElderHealth Northwest. It has meant so much to us, more
than we can put into words or cards, or photos. It was a gift
of $1000. It was a gift of time spent.
Our
church gave each C-group money to use last year. Last spring,
Mark To’s community group set forth to raise money for non-profits
through a speed dating event. I nominated ElderHealth Northwest,
an adult day health care center where I am a case manager and the activities
and Alzheimer’s coordinator. I nominated this non-profit for
our C-group to do a service project and spend the $200 that each c-group
was given by the church. We voted it in. In the meantime,
we also decided to support another non-profit and do a huge speed dating
event to raise more money.
