Church raises more than $600,000 in one weekend to help others

Community Christian Church's 13 Chicago area campuses, including two in Naperville and one in East Aurora, collectively raised more than $600,000 in offerings one weekend to help others.

Community's seventh annual Celebration Generosity collection raised $616,306 in offerings Oct. 4 and 5. Initiated in 2008, Celebration Generosity is just that - a celebration of generosity - in which every dollar of every donation from a single weekend is donated to one of four teams, each dedicated to a specific mission:

• The Restore Community team works to address poverty and justice issues in under-resourced areas like East Aurora, Joliet and parts of Chicago.

• The Haiti team aims to rebuild communities and impact the people of Haiti through partnership with Compassion International.

• The Philippines team helps to remove children from poverty and abuse on the streets, start new churches, and offer quality education for local communities through partnership with Frontline Ministries.

• The NewThing team works to start new churches around the world dedicated to helping people find their way back to God.

"Community Christian Church is passionate about restoring God's dream for our world by tackling poverty and justice issues locally, nationally and globally, and helping people find their way back to God around the world. We work to do that every day, all year long," said Kirsten Strand, director of Community 4:12 (the church's compassion and justice ministry) and Restore Community team leader. "Celebration Generosity is just one way our attendees can support that mission … and they respond year after year with incredible generosity."

Lead pastor Dave Ferguson said Celebration Generosity had a vast level of participation.

"This year, 1,420 families (and) individuals gave to this year's Celebration Generosity. We also saw 213 households give for the very first time," he said.

"Together we will reach people far from God," Ferguson continued. "Together we'll bring restoration to places in this world that need hope and healing. Together we will reproduce the mission of God in communities so that more people can find their way back to God."

All 13 Community Christian Church campuses throughout the Chicago area participated in Celebration Generosity. In its seven-year history, Celebration Generosity has given away more than of $3.5 million to these causes.

"This is one of the most anticipated weekends we have all year," Ferguson said. "The fact is, generosity is contagious and nothing gets us more excited than giving away a bunch of money to other organizations that are changing the world both locally and globally. I am incredibly proud of the people at Community."

To learn more about Celebration Generosity, visit communitychristian.org/ministries/celebration-generosity/.