How should the committee process requests for help?
First, committee members need to keep appropriate boundaries in relationships with people in need. This can be difficult. To help committee members achieve the right balance, the book Boundaries, by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, can provide insight on how to maintain perspective about responsibilities. Second, committee members should not let their enthusiasm for helping others get ahead of the need to gather necessary information from applicants and ensure that applicants behave responsibly with the aid that they receive. “Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes” (Proverbs 19:2 NLT). Thus, everyone from outside a particular church or ministry who is seeking help should be required to go through a screening process. This screening may begin with completion of a questionnaire. For needs within the congregation, individuals and families should be interviewed, but most of the needed information should be assessed through financial coaching. Any candidates fo
