A New Fund for Caring for Our City and One Another

The Session and Diaconate are announcing the creation of a new fund to help us serve our city and one another.

Beginning January 1, 2027, the Compassion Fund will become the primary tool used by our Diaconate to love and serve our neighbors–both within Harbor City and throughout our city.

In the past, we have had two funds. The Mercy Fund allowed us to serve our city through collaboration with our City Partners. The Care Fund allowed us to respond to the needs of individuals within our church.

These funds were kept separate because they were managed by two different groups of people. As our Diaconate has grown, responsibility for both funds has now been brought under the Diaconate.

The elders, elder advisors, deacons, and deacon assistants believe that bringing these funds together will reduce unnecessary complexity and give us greater flexibility in how we use the resources entrusted to us. It will allow us to respond to needs as they arise, whether those needs are within our congregation or in our city.

We know that a change like this may raise questions, particularly because these funds contain gifts that were originally given for designated purposes. We want to be transparent about the change and about how we are stewarding those gifts.

Here are answers to some of the questions you may have. If you have a question that isn’t addressed here, please let us know.

  • Our new Compassion Fund will serve the same purposes as our previous Mercy Fund and Care Fund. Our commitment to serve the city through our City Partners and our commitment to care for the needs within Harbor City have not changed.

  • The first step we took was to contact every individual who made a contribution to either the Mercy Fund or Care Fund during the past several years.

    We provided each donor with the information on this page and asked them to let us know how they would like us to handle their previous gifts.

    We will only move previously designated gifts into the new Compassion Fund when we have received permission from the donor to do so.

    This is part of our commitment to faithfully steward the generosity entrusted to Harbor City.

  • We are committed to faithfully stewarding the financial gifts individuals have made to the church. That commitment is why we asked for permission before moving previously designated gifts.

    Any contributions received for the Care Fund or Mercy Fund will remain in that fund unless we receive permission from the donor to move them to the Compassion Fund.

    We will continue to use the funds designated to the Care Fund or Mercy Fund for the purpose for which they were originally given until the funds in that account are exhausted. Once any remaining funds are used, we will begin using the Compassion Fund.

    For example, any remaining funds in the Care Fund will continue to be used to meet the needs of individuals within our congregation. Once those funds have been used, the Care Fund will no longer exist as a separate fund.

  • Mercy Fund: $23,836

    Care Fund:  $1,291

  • As part of the policies for managing the new Compassion Fund, the Diaconate has established a minimum of $3,500 to be reserved for needs within our congregation.

    Based on our experience over the past nine years, we believe this amount will be sufficient to meet the ongoing needs of our congregation.

    If the Compassion Fund approaches this minimum, the Diaconate will bring the need to the congregation and invite additional support for the fund.

    This allows us, in keeping with Galatians 6:10, to maintain a dedicated commitment to caring for people within Harbor City while also giving us greater flexibility to respond to needs and opportunities beyond our congregation.

  • First, one fund is simpler.

    Having two funds requires us to continually explain the difference between them.

    Second, the way the funds are managed has changed.

    In the past, the Care Fund was managed by the Care Team, which included deacons and other church members. The Mercy Fund was managed by the staff.

    As the Diaconate has grown, responsibility for both funds has been brought under the Diaconate. Bringing the funds together reflects how they are now actually managed and gives the Diaconate a simpler way to steward the resources entrusted to us.

    Finally, our current pattern of giving and need has created an imbalance between the two funds.

    Over time, the needs and opportunities we have encountered in serving our city have exceeded the needs currently being met through the Care Fund. As a result, the Care Fund has accumulated resources that cannot be used as broadly as the Mercy Fund.

    The Care Fund has grown to more than $20,000 while opportunities to serve people continue to arise. We believe the generosity of our congregation is intended to be put to work caring for people–not simply accumulated in an account because of the way our funds have been structured.

    Merging the funds will allow us to put more of the resources you generously give to work where there are actual needs and opportunities to serve.

    One fund reduces unnecessary complexity, gives our Diaconate greater flexibility, and allows us to focus our attention on what matters most: caring for people.

  • Our next fiscal year begins on January 1, 2027. At the beginning of that fiscal year, both the Care Fund and Mercy Fund will be closed. (They will remain active, however, as long as designated funds remain in them.)

    Between now and the start of the year, we will begin moving previous gifts made to the Care Fund and Mercy Fund to the Compassion Fund.

    Beginning November 1, 2026, the Compassion Fund will be the fund receiving new gifts. The Compassion Fund will be used to serve both the needs of our congregation and the needs of our city.

    The fund will be managed by the Diaconate, with oversight from the Session and input from the staff.

    Our hope is that this new structure will allow us to be better stewards of the generosity God has entrusted to our church–giving us greater freedom to respond when people need care and when opportunities to love and serve our neighbors arise.

  • The Care Fund is restricted to care for the material needs of people in our church. In God’s providence, we have had several years where the material needs of individuals in our church have been minimal. This has allowed the fund to grow to its current state. In addition, we have received a few large gifts to this fund over the past three years.