Deacon Care

Perimeter Church cares about you and hopes to help you with struggles you may be experiencing. A special Deacon’s Fund is available to help members in good standing who are in a financial crisis. The Deacon Care Team is available and desires to come alongside you during this time. The information below is intended to provide an overview of the purpose and process for those seeking assistance through the Deacon’s Fund. It describes what you can expect from the Deacon Care Team members who receive the request and what will be expected from members once a request is submitted.

  • Deacon Care Team
     

    - Our purpose is to glorify God by helping meet the emergency financial needs of Perimeter Church members, while providing good stewardship of the Deacon Fund.

    - We are ordained deacons of Perimeter Church who have been nominated and elected by Perimeter members and selected and trained from among all Perimeter deacons to serve on the Deacon Care Team.

    - We work with Perimeter members who are in financial distress or crisis.

  • Member Case Goals
     

    - We seek to lean on our Lord Jesus to help establish a meaningful, helping relationship with our members.

    - We hope to see our members’ situations change over time until they no longer require our assistance.

    - Potential goals include guiding members to manage their budgets responsibly, plan for the future, seek and find viable employment, resolve conflicts, mend relationships, seek God’s community, and intimately know and obey God in all areas of their lives.

  • Financial Assistance
     

    - The Deacon’s Fund is funded by the donations of individuals at Perimeter Church. We are therefore accountable to the congregation to be wise stewards of the resources God has given us through His people.

    - Funding is limited; therefore, we direct financial support to the neediest people within the congregation.

    - Requests will be considered based on a member’s basic living needs. Each request goes through a review process involving at least 2 deacons and possibly other individuals involved in caring for the member.

    - When financial assistance is granted, it is done with the hope that our assistance will be short-term and will no longer be needed once the member’s situation improves.

    - Financial assistance is provided directly to a third-party provider, instead of a direct payment to our members.

  • What We Expect From Our Members Seeking Assistance
     

    - Actively and regularly participate in worship and in other areas of church life. We encourage our members to seek community through an ongoing fellowship group including discipleship groups, Connect Groups, Celebrate Recovery, etc.

    - We expect honesty and full financial disclosure to help us make assistance decisions that are best suited for the situation. Financial disclosure may include detailed spending plan (budget) information, personal financial statements to review assets and debts, other sources of charitable assistance, etc.

    - When assisting with counseling, we expect that there is an understanding that some level of information about the member may need to be exchanged between the deacons working with the member and the provider of services/counseling.

    - We encourage members to be open to seeking the Lord’s ways according to the Bible and to work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit to change their heart and behavior to be in line with the gospel, especially as it relates to their hardships.

  • What You Can Expect From Us
     

    - We will seek to listen to and understand our members, encourage them in Christ and pray for them.

    - We will humbly seek to address our members’ needs through offering resources and financial, practical, and spiritual guidance. We may also establish accountability needed to further encourage progress.

    - The Deacon Care Team will strive to respond to the request within 48 hours. If a decision to provide financial assistance has been made, additional time is needed to submit and process check payment requests.

  • Confidentiality
     

    The Deacon Care Team desires to establish a trust relationship between the member and the deacons working with them. Such a trust relationship can only be established and maintained if the member is confident that the deacon and any other parties that may need to be engaged to help, including the shepherding elder, shepherdess and Perimeter staff will protect the confidentiality of the situation and any facts learned during the development or resolution of a particular case. 

    For instance, payment processing will require that certain information like the member’s name, the payee’s name, account numbers, payment amount, etc. be used to assure the accuracy of payment processing. Other information may need to be shared on a need to know basis to make decisions regarding assistance, or to assist with more comprehensive needs. Throughout the process, our commitment will be to always have respect for the members' privacy.

Perimeter Church Members in need, please click the Deacon Care Form below and complete the short form. Once submitted you will be contacted within 48 hours unless the form is submitted Friday to Sunday, in which case you can expect a response no later than Tuesday.

Deacon Care Form

Non-members

Perimeter Church gives generously to charities in our surrounding communities, joining them in their efforts to minister to our brothers and sisters in need. Please visit the crisis resources below.

  • Duluth/Johns Creek
     
    • Contact Hands of Christ Duluth Cooperative Ministries at 770.623.9563.

    • St Vincent de Paul:

      for zip codes 30097, 30005, call 678.892.6163 and leave a message

      for zip codes 30096, 30024, call 770.576.4081 ext. 140 and leave a message

    • Contact the Salvation Army at 770.724.1661. Call at 9:00 am for an appointment and keep trying.

  • Norcross
     

    • Contact Norcross Cooperative Ministries at 770.263.8268. (Mon, Wed, Fri, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm, Tue, 6:00 pm, Sat, 10:00 am - 12 noon)

    • Norcross Co-op now has classes in financial management and job seeking.

    • St Vincent de Paul:

      for zip codes 30093, 30071, call 770.448.6105 and leave a message. (Hours: Mon, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon only.) No assistance with hotel rent.

      for zip code 30092, call  678.892.6163 and leave a message.

  • Roswell/Alpharetta
     

    • Contact North Fulton Community Charities at 770.640.0399 to get an appointment. Note: they are unable to help people in hotels.

    • St Vincent de Paul:

    • for zip codes 30022 and some of 30076, call 678.393.0060 and leave a message.

      for zip code 30076, call 770.576.4081, give ZIP Code when prompted, then leave a message.

    • Salvation Army (Fulton County) - Call headquarters, or dial 211 for their contact number.

    • Fulton Atlanta Community Action Center - 404.320.0166

  • Lawrenceville, Lilburn, or Snellville
     

    • Salvation Army: call 770.724.1661 at 9:00 am or earlier. Keep trying.

    • Lawrenceville Co-op Ministry - 770.339.7887

    • Lilburn Co-op Ministry - 770.931.8333

    • Snellville Co-op - 770.985.5229

    • Bread of Life Food Pantry (Fresh Food) - 770.513.1007

  • Chamblee Doraville, or in DeKalb County
     

    • Salvation Army - 404.289.3694. Call before 9:00 am for an appointment.

    • St Vincent de Paul -  call 770.458.9607 and leave a message.

    • Suthers Center for Christian Outreach
      3550 Broad St. Ste. F
      Chamblee, GA 30341
      Main Client Number: 770.455.3358
      Website: sutherscenter.com
      Email: sutherscenter@gmail.com

    • I Care Atlanta, Inc.
      5879-B New Peachtree Rd
      Doraville, GA 30340
      Main Client Number: 678.615.3341
      Website: icareatlanta.org

    • Decatur Co-op - 404.377.5365