The Heights Pres.
Mercy Team
Who We Are
The Mercy Team of Heights Presbyterian Church is a ministry of mercy and care that serves the members of Heights Pres. and its surrounding communities. The team focuses on deed ministry by extending mercy and compassion towards practical care for the church and community.
Our desire is to see a church that lifts up the physically poor, needy, and marginalized as central to Christ's commitment to His people. We are inspired by the words of Redeemer Prebyterian Church in New York City who say “God’s mercy moves him to relieve suffering and misery. Mercy is the impulse that makes us sensitive to hurts and lacks in others and makes us desire to alleviate them. Our purpose is to show God’s love and mercy by trying to help people out of difficult circumstances and to be facilitators of the work God is doing in their lives.”
Deuteronomy 15:7-11:
7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. 10 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
What We Do
The Heights Presbyterian Mercy Team--relying on God’s grace--hopes to assist congregants and community members with physical needs, including but not limited to:
Financial assistance for basic living expenses (rent, food, utilities, medical, etc.)
Job search and/or financial education coaching
Prepared meals for congregants with special circumstances
Assistance with transportation or access
Minor repairs/maintenance
Links to support services throughout the city
Much of our ministry will involve connecting those in need with other members of Heights Presbyterian for assistance. For example, although no current members of the Mercy Team have knowledge or skills in car maintenance, we may connect people in need of this service with church members who do, or offer other types of assistance (connecting with certified car mechanics, financial assistance, transportation help).
When you contact the the Mercy Team with a need, a team member will reach out to you to get to know you, hear more about your situation, pray together, and come up with a plan to meet your needs.
How to Get in Touch and What to Expect
Request: Fill out the online contact form, email mercy@heightspres.org, email Pastor Duane at ddavis@heightspres.org, or talk to one of the church Mercy Team members.
Connect: One of the team members will follow up with you – preferably in person, but sometimes might need to be via phone/video chat. We’ll ask questions to get a sense of your needs and how we can best help.
Some questions we might ask:
What would you like us to know about you?
What steps have you already taken or plan to take to address the situation?
How can we be of best help in your situation (what do you envision to be the team’s role in your situation)?
Timeframe: We will attempt to contact you within 48 hours of receiving the request.
Support plan: The Mercy Team member who calls you will work with you to develop a two-part plan: Crisis resolution and long term support.
Part 1, Crisis Resolution, is the plan to address your immediate need. The Mercy Team member will review available resources with you and help you make a plan to resolve the crisis situation. Sometimes, the solution will include money from the church Mercy fund.
Part 2, Long term support, is a plan to help you protect yourself from future crisis situations. We will do our best to connect you with people in the church who can help you develop new skills, craft a budget or develop financial management strategies, etc. We will continue to pray for you and with you in the months after you come to the church for help.
Approval: The Mercy Team will meet to discuss how the church can best assist you. Depending on the nature and urgency of your situation, this might be a quick text or phone call to approve the Crisis Resolution portion of the support plan. The Mercy Team meets monthly to review ongoing Long-term support plans and pray for our church family and community.
Financial support: If financial support is part of the Crisis Resolution plan, the Mercy Team will pay the bill directly using church funds. Typically, we do not give money directly to a church member / neighbor.
Long term support: We will continue to check in with you for the next few months, to see how you’re doing and whether adjustments to the original plan need to be made.
Commitment from you: If you are not a church member, we would love to have you join us on Sunday mornings, but we understand that not everyone is interested/ready. If you would like to get to know our congregation on a more intimate level, we also have Community Groups, which meet on weeknights.
Reimbursement: If you receive financial support from the church and would like to pay us back, you are always welcome to contribute to the Mercy Fund.