The generosity and love of God's people is inspiring to see. Many brethren are moved to want to help in material and financial ways when they become aware of needs and privations suffered by others in the faith.

The United Church of God has recently inaugurated a "Good Works Program," approved by the Council of Elders Aug. 14, to help coordinate the many expressions of that love and desire to share and help. The purpose of this article is to explain the way the program will be administered. Tom Kirkpatrick has been appointed to coordinate the program. Questions can be directed to his attention.

What the Church Has Already Been Doing and Will Continue to Do

As background, it is important to understand that for years the Church has included considerations of member assistance in the course of establishing its annual budgets. Those responsible for coordinating the budgets in the various areas where members live (both internationally and in the United States) include requests for assistance to the brethren in the budgets that they submit to the home office. These are then considered by the Council of Elders, and finally by the General Conference of Elders. A fairly substantial amount of money has been budgeted and expended for years in various types of help—keeping the festivals, emergency personal assistance, etc.

Also, as a part of the budget process, we estimate donations that will be received each year for the "International Fund" and the "Assistance Fund." The end result of this is that most of the pressing needs of our brethren in all areas of the world have been met through budgeted allocations.

We very much appreciate the ongoing donations to the "Assistance Fund" and the "International Fund." We anticipate that these donations will continue, and have budgeted accordingly. For those inclined to give donations to the "International Fund," we request that there be no further restrictions other than to say "International Fund" either on the memo line of their check or an accompanying note. It is best not to further designate the contribution by country, since, as described above, the ongoing needs of those areas have already been budgeted, both in the income and expense budgets.

It is possible that more contributions could be received as designated for a particular country than there are legitimate needs or ways to responsibly spend the monies in that particular country. In such cases, if the donor designates the funds as only to be used for that particular country or region of the world, the Church is in the position of having funds that it cannot use, thus potentially depriving other areas of those funds.

To repeat, if individuals wish to give or continue giving cash offerings to help finance the efforts to help members (and carry out the ongoing work of the Church), they may contribute to the already-established "Assistance Fund" and/or the "International Fund" (without specifying a particular country or region).

What's New—the Church's "Good Works Program"

The new "Good Works Program" is intended to provide an organized way for brethren to help others in the Church who face unusual, emergency situations that could not be anticipated or budgeted for. The intent of the program is to make these situations known to the Church, and to coordinate the distribution of funds that are raised by congregations or groups in fund-raising efforts.

We do not ask that tithes and offerings be directed to this program, for the reasons given above. Instead, if congregations or groups within a congregation wish to engage in special fund-raising efforts (for example, car washes, garage sales, candy or fruit sales, etc.), and dedicate some or all of the proceeds of those efforts for one or more special needs that arise and are publicized as "Good Works Projects" by the Church (via the Church's Web site), then those funds should be sent in a separate check to the home office. The coordinator will see to it that they are then passed along to the appropriate designees. Once sufficient funds for a particular project or need are received and passed along, that project will be removed from the Web site.

To make this program work smoothly, we ask that the following steps be followed by those wishing to help.

1. Read the list of projects on the soon-to-be-established "Good Works Program" page of the Church's Web site. The site address will be www.ucg.org/goodworks.
2. Discuss fund-raising efforts with the local pastor.
3. Engage in the fund-raising efforts, and make it clear that the effort is separate from tithes and offerings.
4. Send a check to the home office (payable to "United Church of God") to the attention of "Tom Kirkpatrick, Coordinator of Good Works Program," indicating the project or projects that the funds were dedicated to. Please indicate in a note that accompanies the check that any surplus funds (over and above the amounts needed to meet the needs of that particular project) can be used to help with other "Good Works Program" projects. Otherwise, the Church will need to return the surplus.

Again, thank you, brethren, for your generosity and desire to help our brethren facing emergency needs. Your assistance in following these procedures will help your aid to reach those in need as quickly and efficiently as possible. UN