By Phil Haslanger
Collaboration Project Story Team

Marcio Sierra Jr, pastor at Lighthouse Church, has seen close to half of his congregation lose their jobs in the economic tidal wave that has accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marcus Allen, pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church and president of the African American Council of Churches, talks with members and neighbors whose precarious financial position has been upended by the current economic calamity. And most of those with jobs do not have the kind of work that lets them work from home, so they are more exposed to the virus.

Sierra and Allen reflected on the words of Psalm 46 - “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…” and they joined together with other churches around the Madison area to create a fund - the Psalm 46 Fund - to help families primarily in the Latino and African American communities affected by the COCVID-19 crisis.

They started in early April with significant donations that totaled $38,000. Now they have reached $85,000 either in hand or committed. They hope to have $100,000 by the end of the month. They are sending the money out to landlords to cover rent, to utilities to cover bills, in grocery cards to help with food. And that is just for April.

“I’m not sure we can raise another $100,000 for the following month,” Allen told about 30 Madison-area faith leaders on a Zoom call on April 21. The call was hosted by the Collaboration Project and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. (You can watch the Zoom video of the call here.)

That is at the heart of the challenge they are facing as they cast their nets wider to get support for this effort that bridges gaps that often exist between different churches and racial and ethnic groups.

While Lighthouse and Mt. Zion are the point places for the Psalm 46 Fund, Allen explained that he is working with all of the congregations it the African-American Council of Churches to distribute the funds to those who need them. Sierra said there is not a comparable organization of Latino congregations but that he has been in touch with all of the Latino pastors in the area so they can refer people they know who are in need.

And while the fund targets people in the Latino and African-American communities, both pastors said the fund will help anyone if they can show a need.

People seeking funds are asked to fill out a form that asks how they were directly affected by COVID-19 and whether they have gotten assistance from any other organization. The funds are intended for those impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, not those who had longer standing financial issues, said Allen.

Lighthouse Church is serving as the fiscal agent, so all the donations go there, then half are sent to the African American Council of Churches, said Sierra.

The initial funding came from the Dane County COVID19 Emergency Fund, initially administered by the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County. Each congregation received $10,000 and they pooled that to create the Psalm 46 fund.

Selfless Ambition encouraged congregations to join in supporting this effort and so far Gateway Community Church, Asbury United Methodist Church, City Church, Metro Believers Church, High Point Church, and Blackhawk Churchhave joined with Lighthouse Church and Mt. Zion Baptist in this effort. Other congregations like Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ are now adding it their lists for potential donations.

“What an opportunity this is for the church to shine a bright light on what can be done,” Sierra said.

He pointed to particular issues for the Latino community here, which has a significant number of undocumented workers whose jobs are in areas like hotels, restaurants and cleaning services that have been hard hit by the COVID-19 shutdowns. They are not eligible either for unemployment compensation or the stimulus checks.

Sierra told of one man who came from Sun Prairie to get food for his family. He was an electrician by trade, but had sold some of his tools to pay the April rent and now was selling more to pay the May rent. He will have no tools for his job once he could work again.

Both Allen and Sierra said they could imagine the collaboration started with the Psalm 46 Fund extending beyond the current crisis but said they are so busy now just getting from day to day they have not thought that far ahead. “It would be great to have these two different cultures joining together” for the long term, Allen said.

People who would like to donate to the Psalm 46 Fund can go to the web site and donate through Pay Pal or send a check with Psalm 46 in the memo line to Lighthouse Church, 6402 Schroeder Rd. Madison, WI 53711.

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Participants in the Psalm 46 conference call.

Churches meet needs in the midst of a pandemic

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