Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence: A Practical Guide to Walking with Low-Income People

When a low-income person asks your church for help, what do you do next?

God is extraordinarily generous, and our churches should be, too. Because poverty is complex, however, helping low-income people often requires going beyond meeting their material needs to holistically addressing the roots of their poverty.

But on a practical level, how do you move forward in walking with someone who approaches your church for financial help?

From the authors of When Helping Hurts comes Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence, a guidebook for church staff, deacons, or volunteers who work with low-income people.

Short and to the point, this tool provides foundational principles for poverty alleviation and then addresses practical matters, like:

• How to structure and focus your benevolence work
• How to respond to immediate needs while pursuing long-term solutions
• How to mobilize your church to walk with low-income people

With practical stories, forms, and tools for churches to use, Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence is an all-in-one guide for church leaders and laypeople who want to help the poor in ways that lead to lasting change.

STEVE CORBETT is the Community Development Specialist for the Chalmers Center at Covenant College and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and Community Development at Covenant College.

DR. BRIAN FIKKERT (PhD, Yale University) is the Founder and President of the Chalmers Center at Covenant College, where he has also served as a Professor of Economics and Community Development since 1997. He has published numerous articles in academic and popular journals and is co-author of six books, including the best-selling When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself. Brian and his wife, Jill, have three adult children.

KATIE CASSELBERRY is Director of Marketing and Communications at the Chalmers Center, where she oversees Chalmers' written communications and the messaging of broader marketing efforts. She assists Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett on their publishing projects and also has experience in the fields of public policy, education, and curriculum development. Katie has a B.A. in History from Covenant College, where she focused on modern international history.