Accompaniment Ministries

OUR MODEL OF MINISTRY - ACCOMPANIMENT

WHAT IS ACCOMPANIMENT?

When we accompany people, we walk and act in solidarity with them.
We share their joys, disappointments, frustrations, and successes.

HOW IS ACCOMPANIMENT DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL MISSIONS?

In Traditional Missions:

There is a giver and a recipient of charity.
All power rests with the giver, not with the recipient.
The giver defines needs, policies, timing, worthiness, manner of support, and the terms of the gift.

In Accompaniment Ministry:

The relationship between giver and recipient is characterized by mutuality.
Both the giver and the recipient benefit.
Both the giver and the recipient are willing to be changed by their encounter.
Both have the power to shape the nature of the relationship.
Walking with each other is as important as the material support that is given.
Accompaniment occasionally may result in experiences of discomfort.
Such discomfort is a good thing, for it helps participants grow in faith and understanding.
Accompanying others can lead participants to better appreciate the complexity of situations, crises, and motivations.

TYPES OF ACCOMPANIMENT MINISTRY

Accompaniment ministries can come in many forms.

They may consist of financial material support.
They may come in the form of in-kind donations.
They may take the form of hands-on service.
They may consist of listening to each other's stories.
They may involve acts of faith-based advocacy - letter writing, calling political representatives, or participating in events hosted by the Lutheran Office of Public Policy (LOPP).

All these different ways of accompanying others have in common that they are done in a spirit of mutuality.

ACCOMPANIMENT MINISTRIES @ FLC

Thanksgiving Turkeys (in support of the work of Stand-Up Placer)
Coat Drive (in support of the work of Christ the King Lutheran Church, Tahoe City)
Half a Blanket (community group, serving our neighbors in the immigration court system)
God’s Work. Our Hands. Sunday