Before Home Repairs Ministries and hundreds of repaired hearts and homes, there was a congregation that saw unmet needs all around them.
Perimeter Church in Johns Creek is approaching its 50th anniversary as a congregation, but in its 25th year, church leaders realized there was something missing in their church and community.
“A healthy church is strong in the head, heart and hands,” said Chip Sweney, executive director and pastor of Greater Atlanta Transformation at Perimeter.
“Head is strong doctrine and theology, heart is evangelism and hand is ministries of mercy and justice. At year 25, we realized we really had no intentional strategy for ‘the hand,’ coming alongside and impacting those in need around us.”
At the time, Chip served as one of the student ministry pastors. He had already been mobilizing middle school students and families to serve the community. In 2002, he transitioned from leading and mobilizing students to helping launch Perimeter’s Community Outreach program.
“We wanted to find great people who were already doing great work, including city and community leaders,” Chip explained. “We also wanted to find nonprofits with a mission and vision that connected with ours as a church.
“We’re a church that’s really focused on evangelism and discipleship, so our people were ready for this outreach to happen.”
In the beginning, Community Outreach focused on building partnerships with these existing people and organizations. But as church members became more involved in the community, they began to notice gaps in outreach and unmet needs.
One of those gaps was home repairs.
“Home Repairs Ministries started with [a church member named] Harvey Anderson and a group who saw a huge need for widows, the elderly and [homeowners] who couldn’t afford repairs,” he explained. “Harvey is a handyman, so anything related to physical labor was his sweet spot.
“He was the champion for [Home Repairs Ministries] to begin with. He saw the huge need and said, ‘I really think we have many people with gifts in our church that would love to help others in this way.’”
The next year, Perimeter Church was one of eight churches involved in a movement called Unite, bringing together churches from different denominations with congregants of different ethnicities to serve the community. These members, inside and outside Perimeter, became more involved in Community Outreach partnerships and initiatives, including Home Repairs Ministries.
Then, in 2006, under Neale Hightower’s direction, Home Repairs became an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
20 years later, Perimeter’s Community Outreach and heart to serve are now woven into the fiber of the church’s identity.
“I remember we were scrambling at first. We didn’t know what we were doing. But now we have about 50 nonprofits around Atlanta [that we serve with],” he said. “When people come [to the church now], they just think the church has always done this.”
Chip hopes that the collaboration that built Home Repairs Ministries and fueled decades of community support inspires more churches to serve. But to grow their outreach, churches need to grow their collaboration.
“Unfortunately, sometimes a church can be the least likely place to collaborate with other churches, but collaboration is what Community Outreach is all about,” Chip shared.
“Among the nonprofits, there’s also been a spirit of collaboration. Of ‘How do we help each other?’ Home Repairs has been a part of that and benefited from that.”
Chip feels that the Church has, in some ways, fallen short in modeling Jesus’ love and compassion. But collaborative efforts help churches align more closely with His heart.
“In Matthew 9:35-38, Jesus went through the villages teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel and healing every disease and affliction. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless,” Chip shared.
“It’s the model of Christ’s life which we want to emulate. Obviously, we do want to share the truth of God’s word, but it’s about living it out as well. Before [Community Outreach and Unite], we were focused on the Word but not nearly as much on the deed.”
Through partnerships with Home Repairs Ministries and other like-minded organizations, the congregation at Perimeter is living out its faith and making a lasting difference in its community.
