One Church United
The One Church United program strives to equip and empower God’s church to create a united movement of service to local communities in the Greater Charlotte area for the advancement of God’s Kingdom.
The Local Church: The Problem and Solution
For years, the American Local Church has been divided by race, socioeconomic status, and competition for resources. Unfortunately, this division has led to many of the social and economic strains that we see in our communities today. The poor and marginalized often suffer the most from these effects.
However, God has established the Church to be a powerful agent for change, for healing and for unity. So while the Church has enabled, even perpetuated, so many of today’s socioeconomic problems, it has also been designed to be God’s solution for them. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 1:10 that the Church is called to “bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” Therefore, as God’s Church, we must put aside our differences in preferences, in socioeconomic status, and everything else that keeps us divided, and unite in love as one Church under Christ.
What does this look like when serving our communities? It looks like interracial church partnerships and resource-sharing. It looks like going into hurting communities and building relationships with them rather than just throwing money at “Band-Aid” solutions. It looks like treating people who are in need with dignity through providing relief within a system of accountability and love. It looks like bringing the love of Christ to people of every tribe, nation and tongue on earth.
Without oneness and brotherly love as God’s Church, healing and justice are not possible. Here at New Leaf, we seek to help the Church pursue opportunities for oneness and learn how to effectively serve one another.
Our Mission & Vision
Our mission for the One Church United program is to facilitate partnerships within the Church that foster socioeconomic unity, eliminate inter-church resource disparities, and enable the Local Church to effectively share the love of Christ with surrounding communities.
Specifically, we believe that Christ’s love is best shown when the Church can meet the spiritual, financial, and physical needs of the underprivileged through cross-socioeconomic church partnerships (e.g. partnering churches from more affluent communities with those from lower-income communities who cannot afford a benevolence fund).
Scripture-Based Concept
Our mission is based on the following verses in Scripture–
“As a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, ‘Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.’” – 2 Corinthians 8:14-15
“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:10
“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” – James 2:15-18
Everything we do is meant to bring glory to Christ and effectively spread the Gospel. Therefore, our mission is intentionally based upon Biblical principles so that we might achieve these goals.
Our Process
We seek out and vet churches who are actively serving lower-income communities, but who cannot afford a benevolence fund to meet the urgent needs of their church or community members. Once we identify these resource needs, we then identify other churches in the community who do have those resources, and facilitate a partnership between the two.
This partnership allows both parties to have a united, focused effort in serving those in need in their communities. This partnership also works to foster socioeconomic and racial unity within the Church.
Some examples of common resource needs for churches in our program include:
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Basic necessities for a supplies closet.
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Funding for urgent financial needs of church and community members.
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Counseling, therapy, and accountability sessions for church members in crisis.
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Temporary housing.
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Classes on budgeting, job skills training, and job placement.
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Volunteers
There is no expectation that all resource requests are met through this partnership alone. There is, however an expectation that the churches in our program seek to meet the needs of one another out of brotherly love.
New Partner Church Criteria
All churches receiving assistance for their members must supply the information listed below and then be approved by the New Leaf Foundation Board of Directors.
1. Church name, address, phone number, and website
2. Pastor’s name, contact information, and bio
3. Church EIN number
4. Attach a copy of the church by-laws
5. If there are any church beliefs not included in the by-laws, please attach
6. Please describe church activities in serving the less fortunate
7. Please describe church activities in reaching the lost
Once completed, please forward this information to: info@NewLeafFound.org
Contact Us
If you or your church would like to learn more or partner with us through our One Church United program, please contact the appropriate person below:
Charlotte, NC
Laura Siljander
(704) 544-2724, Ext 2
Boone, NC
John Gennings
(704) 544-2724, Ext 1