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Big and Small, Local Churches Partner
for Habitat for Humanity

At her Burks Lane house, Habitat Homeowner Sherri Bell helps ministers Jon Bell, First United Methodist Church, and Jim Rennell, Providence Baptist Church.

The Theology of the Hammer is busy at work in Putnam County. Habitat for Humanity founder and president Millard Fuller coined the concept, The Theology of the Hammer, over twenty-five years ago when referring to the work of Habitat and bringing a wide diversity of people, churches, and other organizations together to build houses and establish viable and dynamic communities. Differences of opinion may exist on numerous subjects, but common ground can be found in using a hammer as an instrument to manifest God's love.

"We witness this on every jobsite because our volunteers are strangers working together for a common cause, but this is a first for us when it comes to the sponsorship of a home" says Pam Ealey, Resource Development Manager for Putnam County Habitat for Humanity (PCHFH).

Two local churches of different denominations, a United Methodist church and a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church are working together, responding to God's call to help those in need. Cookeville First United Methodist Church and Providence Baptist Church are partnering together to sponsor a Habitat home on Burks Lane.

"Habitat gives us the opportunity to share in God's work with brothers and sisters of other denominations. It allows us to demonstrate our faith by our works" said Jon Bell, senior Minister of First United Methodist Church, who are sponsoring a Habitat home for the third straight year.

Bell has been a long-time supporter of the Habitat for Humanity ministry throughout his career. He has seen first-hand how life is added into a church congregation when they put their resources and time together to do this type of work in their own community.

Gayle Haggard, Executive Director of PCHFH agrees with Bell. "This church continues to build on faith. Here they are willing to partner again on another home while running a major building campaign of their own. First United Methodist Church has truly blessed the lives of many as they continue to serve the Lord in this community through actions and deeds."

The new kid on the block is Providence Baptist Church. In the past few years, Providence has been a financial supporter of Habitat; however, this is the first year they have given a gift of this size, one that will provide a portion of the sponsorship costs of a Habitat home along with volunteer labor. Another first that makes this build special is the fact that Providence Baptist Church is the smallest church to build a house in Putnam County with a membership of twenty.

Jim Rennell, pastor of Providence Baptist appreciates the opportunity this partnership provides a church of his size.

"Our church believes strongly in the support of missions both local and state level, plus internationally. We have supported Putnam County Habitat for Humanity financially in the past, and we believe it's one of the finest non-profits in America," says Rennell.

"Providence Baptist Church's participation as a house sponsor demonstrates that the resources are truly available in our community to provide affordable housing to those in need" says Ealey. "I would like to think that this partnership would ring a message to all of those in our faith community. Congregations of 20 to 2000 can come together and give these families, our neighbors, the opportunity to have a home they can call their own.

"We have a strong church community in our county with over 100 congregations. Churches should understand that Habitat for Humanity is a servant of the church by providing an opportunity for people to put faith into action. It is mission work that is needed right here in our community that will see that God's people receive a safe decent and affordable home to raise their family. I would encourage other churches to contact these two pastors and discuss the Habitat program or better yet they can join us on a worksite one day!" continued Ealey.

Sherri Bell is the future homeowner for this project. She has been busy earning her "sweat equity" hours and is looking forward to the opportunity to buy her own home and having the security and stability for her two children to enjoy and thrive.

This home is one of the three that a work group from Central Illinois came down in March and began. That group got the home dried in within a week, leaving the interior work for the congregations of First United Methodist Church and Providence Baptist Church along with other Habitat volunteers to complete.

This year PCHFH needs to build at least six homes and the affiliate has the funding available to cover fifty percent of the cost of each home. PCHFH's funding comes from individual donors, gifts-in-kind, mortgage payments and fundraising events. Sponsors from the church community, business community, and individuals are needed to cover the other fifty percent costs and supply volunteer labor to build the homes.

First United Methodist Church, with a history of close to 150 years in our community, is located at 204 East Spring Street. Their mission is to continue Christ's ministry through loving, teaching, healing, serving, and witnessing. Their Sunday services are at 8:30 and 10:55am with evening services at 6:30pm. A variety of classes are provided on Wednesday evenings. For more information, call 526-2177.

Providence Baptist Church is a fellowship of Baptist Christians who share a passion for the Great Commission of Jesus Christ and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. Their mission is to worship and work together for effective missions and ministry in the name of Christ. Located at 37 West Broad Street, Providence Baptist Church has Sunday worship services at 10am and Bible Study on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. For more information call 537-2667.

Putnam County Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical Christian housing ministry, providing families in need with the opportunity for home ownership. Volunteers and donors assist in building the homes and PCHFH sells the homes to the Partner Families at cost with no-interest mortgages. For more information on supporting PCHFH call the office at 528-1711.