The Sharing Organization Ministries, Inc.

TSO
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It is the MISSION of the Sharing Org to share the love of God and to build relationships with residents of care facilities by providing them with weekly inter-denominational Christian worship services.

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PO Box 73
Armada, MI 48005

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do you need to raise support from churches and individuals? Can't you pass an offering plate and collect money from the residents you serve?

There are three main reasons why we do not collect tithes and offerings from the residents:

  • Many of the residents we serve do not have the financial resources to give, even if we were to ask.
  • Not all of the residents are Christians. Some have had bad experiences with a church "only wanting your money." We do not want to embitter them further by appealing to them for money.
  • It would be poor "public relations" with the administration at these facilities if we were to ask their residents to give tithes and offerings. We are providing spiritual services free-of-charge.

We strongly believe that our ministry should provide weekly church services and Christian fellowship as a gift to the residents without obligation on their part.

 

Aren't local churches already holding church services at these facilities on a regular basis?

We want to be careful to answer this question in light of our own personal experience at the facilities we serve. Some churches do provide periodic worship services at nursing homes, but the churches that send pastors or lay ministers generally do so on a monthly or quarterly basis. The services often are segregated by denomination, meaning that the pastor or priest holds a service or mass for the residents of his or her own denomination. Since the services are so infrequent, the residents don't get the opportunity to build real relationships with the ministers and often don't even recognize them as the pastor or priest who came last month or the month before that. In some cases, the pastors in a town take turns going once a month to minister at a nursing care facility, so it might be months or even a year before the same pastor cycles through his turn in the rotation and returns to the facility.

The adult foster care (AFC) homes that we visit receive no visits from any local churches. In many cases, the churches seem unaware that the homes exist right there in their own neighborhoods. These residents are most in need of spiritual care and encouragement, and the primary focus of our ministry is on the residents of AFC homes.

Our goal is to provide weekly church services in order build relationships with the residents. And because of the flexibility of our schedule, we are able to participate in holiday parties and social gatherings with the residents during non-church times, and this helps to build a sense of community and care as well.


 

Last updated Friday, December 28, 2007

 

 


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