OUR DEACONS’ FUND

             If you have received a box of offering envelopes from our church, you know that on the first Sunday of each month, there is an extra envelope labeled, Deacons’ Fund.  This is a special fund, not part of the church’s general budget, which has been maintained by the Deacons of our church nearly since the beginning of our church’s history.  Through the years, it has been collected in different ways.  For many years, at least through much of the 20^th Century, it was collected during the last hymn (a second offering) using the wooden offering boxes (with wooden handles) which still hang on the wall at the rear of the church.  The primary purpose of our Deacons’ Fund is to provide confidential assistance to church members in need or crisis.  Most often this is done through our Senior Minister.  It is also used occasionally and as needed to support important community ministries and programs, such as Southington’s Manna Fund, the SHS Alcohol-free Graduation Party (and those of other schools if any of our members are graduating from them), Bread for Life, community members in crisis, etc.  Occasionally our Deacons will decide to give the proceeds from the Deacons’ Fund for a particular month to a program or ministry in need of these funds.  For example, scholarships for our Youth Mission Trips are often offered from such a special collection.  These programs/needs are publicized well in advance, so that people can choose whether or not to support the particular cause/program receiving the funds.  We are not certain whose dream our Deacons’ Fund was originally, but it has assisted multitudes of people and programs through the years, and we are delighted to have it.