The mission of Family Promise is to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence through a community-based response. Poverty is a complex problem. It won’t yield to a simple solution. It requires an integrated approach that reaches beyond immediate needs. Family Promise initiates coordinated local efforts that bring communities together to help homeless families regain their housing, their independence, and their dignity.
Americans are a compassionate people. Enormous numbers of people would help their neighbors in need if they had a way to help. Family Promise brings people in need together with people who want to help and provides the framework that turns compassion into action. The issue can seem overwhelming and individuals may feel powerless to change the lives of people in poverty. Family Promise volunteers successfully helped 160,000 find their way back into society.
Working together, these volunteers provide temporary housing, meals, and services to more than 50,000 family members annually. They mentor at-risk families. They teach financial literacy. They help find jobs and affordable housing. They create programs to meet specific needs in their communities. And they advocate for public policies that alleviate poverty and promote the economic stability of low-income families.
The vision of Family Promise is a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future. The members of Harmony Church of Bartlett have been helping Family Promise achieve this vision in the Bartlett, Tennessee area for many years and feel truly blessed to be a part of such a gifting organization. For more information about Family Promise and how you can help, visit their website or contact us via our “Contact” tab.
Fifth Sunday Benevolence Fund:
The call to provide for the needy is found throughout the Bible. In the gospel of Matthew 25:34-40, Jesus emphasizes the need for benevolence in God’s name. John asks in 1 John 3:17, “If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?” “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7), and maintaining a benevolence fund is one way to help those who come to the church for aid during difficult times.
Every month has 4 Sundays, but 4 times a year there is a fifth Sunday in the month. On these Fifth Sundays, Harmony Church of Bartlett uses this “extra” Sunday to do something “extra” for our fellow members and neighbors in need. We accept gift cards to local restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores. We also accept monetary donations to the benevolence fund and pre-paid debit cards. Once recieved we disperse these gifts of love to those in our church and local communities who find themselves in need.
These requests can be caused by job loss, medical emergencies or other catastrophic events in the life of a church or community member. In many cases, Harmony seeks to partner with individuals over a period of time to help provide encouragement and links to local resources. Since this program was started, well over 100 members in our church and local community have been touched by this “extra” gift of love. If you are experiencing a financial emergency, please feel free to speak with our pastor via our “Contact” tab or reach out to one of the members of Harmony Church of Bartlett. Offerings to the benevolence fund can be made at any time either online or by check– simply write “benevolence” in the memo line.
Operation Christmas Child/Samaritan's Purse:
Samaritan’s Purse is a non-denominational evangelistic Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The members of Harmony Church of Bartlett for several years have contributed to Samaritan’s Purse annual Operation Christmas Child shoebox drive. The joy that comes out of each box is truly eternal. Every gift-filled shoebox is a powerful tool for evangelism and discipleship-transforming the lives of children and their families around the world through the good news of Jesus Christ.
For more information about Samaritian’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child, please visit their website or contact us via our “Contact” tab.
South America Missions:
For more than a century, South America Mission (SAM) has been working to see the Church of Jesus Christ transform communities by embodying the Kingdom of God. It has been a privilege to participate in Christ’s sufferings. Some have even laid down their lives
SAM rejoices in the progress of the gospel, a result of the faithfulness of those who have gone before. Today SAM’s zeal for God’s glory translates into visible form through missionaries and partners working to share the gospel, reproduce authentic disciples of Jesus, plant churches, train leaders and equip God’s people to minister transformationally.
The members of Harmony Church of Bartlett have supported the work of SAM since meeting Craig and Mary DeLille and their missionaries in Recife, Brazil, in 2014. Since then, Harmony has been a monthly supporter of SAM and the Brazilian team. Harmony has also sent five members on a mission trip in 2015, sponsored an intern, Julia Krueger, in 2016 and returned in Spring 2017 with a new mission team. We are excited to share in SAM’s zeal for the Lord.
To learn more about South America Mission, the people and places this organization is transforming, and how to support them directly, visit their website or contact us via our “Contact” tab.
Women of Harmony:
Women of Harmony is a group for women designed to develop Christian relationships, grow spiritually in Christ and share the love of the Lord by serving the local community. The support and love of a small circle of friends can nurture a woman in a unique way by providing acceptance, affirmation and accountability to all those involved. The Women of Harmony may begin their daytime Bible study in the near future. Stay tuned!
The Women of Harmony (WoH) step outside the walls of the church on a daily basis to provide both spiritual and physical assistance to members and neighbors alike. WoH stays connected with the members of our church community who are ill, disabled or otherwise unable to attend services on a regular based. Through letters, cards and phone calls, this connection allows our brothers and sisters in Christ to feel a part of a fellowship of believers, even if they are not physical present for worship services.
WoH also looks outside the church membership to provide a helping hand to those in our community in need. WoH has provided meals, household services, transportation, gift baskets and even a kind ear to many individuals and families in our local community who found themselves in difficult circumstances.
Women of Harmony is open to all women who wish to connect to other Christian women while also developing a closer relationship to Jesus Christ through prayer, study and service. For more information about Women of Harmony and how you can contribute, please give us a call at (901) 249-7400 or visit the "Contact" tab.
