Author Archives: Marcia Szumowski

When is helping really hurting?

By Marcia Szumowski, on June 21, 2009
Sitting across the table from someone who is facing an eviction or utility shut-off, a natural first reaction would be to fix it, especially if there are children at home.  As Christians, we all struggle… read more

Under the skin, we are all the same

By Marcia Szumowski, on June 8, 2009
I am looking for blog ideas all the time.  Several weeks ago, our minister made a comment that I have been tossing around in my head, trying to find a way put this message in… read more

Dollar Sense Workshop-Tuesday June 9th

By Marcia Szumowski, on May 26, 2009
If you are involved with your congregation's benevolence ministries, you most likely have worked with someone who, on paper, looks like they should be able to cover their expenses.   Or, maybe they don't have enough… read more

Be Positive! Refuse to participate in the recession

By Marcia Szumowski, on May 16, 2009
Be Positive! Refuse to participate in the recession.  A local printing company (Fast Signs on 29th St) are giving free bumper stickers with this message on them.  While it might seem like a simple concept… read more

Community Disaster Response Plan

By Marcia Szumowski, on April 30, 2009
Just as your family needs to develop it's own, individual safety plan, the faith community has come together to determine the tasks and responsibilities of how to meet the long-term needs in the event of… read more

ACCESS OSM can help your Benevolence Ministry be more than writing a check….

By Marcia Szumowski, on April 19, 2009
ACCESS of West Michigan began over 25 years ago out of a need to have a central database to record those who had received help from congregations.  The first official employee was a Caseworker, to coordinate and offer… read more

ACCESS Mentoring Workshop

By Marcia Szumowski, on April 4, 2009
Jesus challenged us with the mission to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself. But can we take this further to seek out someone who may not love themselves enough to love their neighbor? Many in our… read more

How to Best Work with OSM Caseworkers

By Marcia Szumowski, on April 3, 2009
As I am putting together the information from the OSM Survey Monkey (thanks to all those who took the time to participate) I thought would comment on some of the confusion out there on how… read more

Not so Easy Decisions

By Marcia Szumowski, on January 27, 2009
So, you answered the call to serve as a benevolence volunteer. Putting our Christian values to work to help others through difficult times seems like a natural progression, but what about the not so… read more