Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church is a servant church in the city of New Brunswick, NJ.
The mission statement of Emanuel proclaims welcome to people from all walks of life, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. Emanuel's mission is also "to reach out to the local and world communities." On these pages, you can find what Emanuel is doing to reach out to the local community of New Brunswick and across international borders through the partnership with our sister church in El Mirador, Guatemala.
You can also find out more information about Emanuel's status as a Reconciling in Christ congregation, a program of Lutherans Concerned/North America to recognize Lutheran congregations which welcome lesbian and gay believers.
You can also meet the Social Ministry and Evangelization Committee of Emanuel, the committee that provides leadership to the congregation in terms of Emanuel's mission.
KIVA
Website: www.Kiva.org
Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending in order to alleviate poverty.
Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.
To help those in our community and around the world, Emanuel provides loans to entrepreneurs through Kiva. By helping to fund projects ranging from agricultural ventures to small stores, Emanuel helps people and communities lift themselves out of poverty and realize their dreams.
Kiva works with microfinance institutions on five continents to provide no-interest small business loans to people without access to traditional banking systems. One hundred percent of each loan is sent to these microfinance institutions who administer the loans in the field. Through Kiva, you can lend to an entrepreneur anywhere in the world. Kiva’s field partners ensure that your loan is repaid. You can either withdrawal the funds after receiving repayment, or you can use the funds to issue a loan to another borrower.
HUNGER MINISTRY
Integral to the life of Emanuel is a commitment to outreach -- reaching out to the local community in love, in the name of Christ. Emanuel is a founding church for the largest soup kitchen that is operating in New Brunswick, Elijah's Promise. Emanuel operates a small but effective food pantry to which parishioners bring donated food items.
Our Food Pantry
Emanuel Lutheran Church provides a food pantry that is stocked with donations from members of the congregation. While modest in size, the food pantry provides many staples, such as pasta, sauces, canned meat and fish, cereal and soup. It serves as an emergency backstop for people in the New Brunswick community who find themselves without food and without recourse to food.
HOUSING MINISTRY
Website: Making It Possible to End Homelessness
MIPH was founded in 1987 to increase local services and resources for the homeless in Middlesex County. Initially, MIPH consisted of all volunteers who were represented by local advocates and clergy from the Middlesex County area and became a non-profit agency under the name, Middlesex Interfaith Partners with the Homeless.
Since it's inception, MIPH has operated a variety of programs: a dinner program in New Brunswick which served approximately 75 homeless individuals and families nightly; two overnight shelter programs in Temple Emanu-El in Edison, one for mentally disabled homeless individuals and one for families in eminent danger of breaking up due to lack of housing and various social service needs; and a homeless outreach center in New Brunswick for advocacy and referral services; MIPH has been heavily involved in the evolution of homeless services in the area since 1987. As a grassroots group pushing for expanded homeless services, MIPH brought together mainstream public and private agencies through efforts to advocate for the homeless.
MIPH also introduced the concept of transitional housing for families in the area. Although MIPH is supported by many houses of worship, the primary leadership on the Board of Trustees has come from members of Emanuel, including Pastor Eaton, Guy Catapano, Lisanne Finston, Lou Marchetta and the late Don Krueckeberg. In addition, MIPH has received annual financial support from Emanuel.
FINANCIAL MINISTRY
Emanuel strives to be a good steward of its financial resources. Although Emanuel is not a large congregation, it is consistently the 10th or 11th most generous congregation of the 186 congregations in the New Jersey Synod when it comes to giving to the Synod and the ELCA. Emanuel’s endowment is structured in such a way that the interest from the endowment is used to fund new initiatives in ministry in the community. Emanuel also makes substantial financial contributions to local agencies such as Elijah’s Promise and the housing organization MIPH, both of which were founded at Emanuel, as well as to the advocacy work of the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry and Lutherans Concerned, to name a few.
ENDOWMENT
The Endowment Committee
Initially, in May 2001, this committee was established by a congregational amendment to our church constitution, to handle the investment of a bequest from the estate of a member. Other monies have since been added to this amount. The committee is composed of a chairperson and 8 members and reports to the Church Council on a quarterly basis. A report is also presented to the congregation at its Annual Meeting.
Endowment Sources
Any “Undesignated gift” given to the church in excess of $5000 is handled by the Endowment Fund. Contributions to the Endowment Fund can come from many sources, for example:
- Bequests
- Outright gifts in honor of a special celebration
- Gifts in honor of another person
- Gifts in memory of a loved one
These monies will be invested according to the recommendations of a “Registered Financial Adviser”. Utmost effort will be put into investing these monies in a “socially responsible” manner.
Endowment Requests
The Endowment Committee is made up of 9 people. A portion of the interest earned/profits is available for funding new initiatives in ministry. Requests must be made for use in local ministry projects. The principal amount remains intact. Application forms must be completed for the use of endowment monies and are available from the pastor or a member of the Endowment Committee. Requests are then reviewed by the committee, and interviews may be conducted with results reported to the church council. Upon Church Council approval, applicants will be notified and a check written by our church treasurer to fund the approved ministry projects.
Planned Giving
We urge all of our members to remember the church and its Endowment Fund in their will. We practice good stewardship of our own resources when we use them to minister to those in our surrounding community. We are the instrument of God’s love when we help others.
Application Form
This is a link to the application form and general application process, in PDF format.
OUR SISTER CHURCH
Since 1996, Emanuel has had a partner relationship with a small, struggling Lutheran church in a marginal community, (El Mirador), just outside Guatemala City. El Divino Salvador del Mundo is part of the growing Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala, which has established churches in and around Guatemala City as well as in several far outlying regions of the country. They are led by a team of leaders consisting of Pastor Horacio Castillo, Ordained Deacons Esther Castillo, Stephen Deal (our American lay missionary connection there), and a dozen or more from the communities themselves. The ELCA/USA is becoming supportive of the efforts to educate, in terms of theology and community leadership, the people there.
Three delegations from Emanuel have visited El Mirador, as well as several of the other congregations, in 1997, 1999, and most recently, in July 2000. Our brothers and sisters in Guatemala ask of us, more than anything else, that we walk in solidarity with them as they work to improve their lives. Amidst the political and economic and religious realities of their small country, (and especially given the United States’ shameful history as regards the area), a peaceful, supportive international presence is helpful in many ways.
