VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABP) — While a penny can be exchanged for one’s thoughts, children and youth in Baptist churches across the country are discovering that it can also be exchanged for a greater awareness of child poverty.
The nationwide Penny Project was launched a year ago by the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, the domestic-missions arm of American Baptist Churches USA.
Youth from First Baptist Church in New London, N.H., with the some of the 60,000 pennies they collected to call attention to, and help, the estimated 60,000 children in their state living in poverty. (courtesy ABHMS)
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First Baptist Church in New London, N.H., set an early example when its youth collected 60,000 pennies to represent the number of children officials estimate to be living in poverty in the Granite Mountain State.
With First Baptist New London as inspiration, the Home Mission Societies encouraged youth in all ABCUSA-affiliated churches to join the Penny Project in collecting 14 million coins, equaling the estimated number of children living in poverty in the United States and Puerto Rico. Thus far, 162 American Baptist churches have joined the project, collecting more three million pennies.
In Madison, Wis., the Penny Project provided children at Mt. Zion Baptist Church not only a practical lesson in compassion, but also an unanticipated lesson in forgiveness.
Over a three-month period, the children had watched with growing excitement as an empty water-cooler jug was filled to the brim with coins. Then, only a few days before they were to meet to decide on a recipient for the collection, someone stole the the 150-pound jug.
“I was disappointed because we had raised a lot of money,” said 10-year-old Ciara Hart. “But I know that bad things happen and then sometimes good things happen and that God always fixes it.”
After a local newspaper published a story about the theft, area businesses offered to place penny jars at their locations to help replace the stolen money.
“What the enemy meant for bad, the Lord has used to bless us — I’m hoping tenfold,” said Jackie Colbert, co-coordinator of the church’s Penny Project.
Children from Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Madison, Wis., come forward during a recent worship service to put pennies into the congregation’s Pennies for the Poor jar. (courtesy Mt. Zion Baptist Church)
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In addition to watching their community unite in support of their effort to combat child poverty in Madison, children at Mt. Zion got a lesson in forgiveness. After a person came forward to confess to the theft, church members have reached out to help him with various needs.
In the tiny community of Kermit, W.Va., where attendance at First Baptist Church reaches 15 on a “good” Sunday, according to the Home Mission Societies, the Penny Project has created new opportunities for outreach following reports on two television stations about the small church’s penny-collecting endeavors.
“A lot of times we don’t have the resources, human or otherwise, for all the mission we would like to do,” said Scotty Robertson, the congregation's "mostly volunteer" pastor, who is also a junior at Marshall University. “Here in West Virginia, there are plenty of welfare programs for adults, but what we want to do is specifically investigate what can do just for kids."
In Marion, Mass., Community Baptist Church made it their mission to collect 202,300 pennies, one for every child in the state who lives in poverty. Penny collectors made from small Chinese-food containers were stationed around the church building for worshipers to fill. Eventually, congregants began sharing the boxes with friends and family to encourage community-wide participation.
In less than six months, the church surpassed its goal. During a Sunday worship service, the offering was presented in the form of grants to two local agencies and two elementary schools to help combat child poverty. Church members are also exploring ways to continue the relationship with the agencies.
In College Park, Md., children and youth at University Baptist Church dedicated last Nov. 1 — the Sunday designated for the fall-back transition from daylight-saving time to standard time — as “Change-Your-Clocks and Bring-Your-Change-To-Church Sunday.” Their goal: 163,000 pennies, one for each child living in poverty in Maryland.
The funds will help provide low-income students at a nearby middle school with supplies and uniforms.
As the Penny Project enters its second year, its sponsors hope the lowly penny will become a tangible reminder for thousands of Baptist children and youth of Jesus’ command to minister to “the least of these,” including children living in poverty in their own communities.
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Kristine Davis, a graduate student in journalism at Baylor University, is ABP’s 2010 summer intern. The position is made possible by proceeds from the R. Gene Puckett Endowed Internship fund. This story included information compiled from reports published by American Baptist Home Mission Societies.