A matter of faith.
Churches are the cornerstone of Habitat for Humanity – we want to partner with you. The simplest and most common form of participation is through contributions of money and volunteer hours. Some churches take on the challenge of
building a home by themselves, called an Apostles Build. Read on to learn if being an Apostles Build partner is right for you and your congregation. Working with dedicated volunteers and community partners, we can fulfill our mission of eliminating substandard housing at the beaches.
What is an Apostles Build?
Already part of the Apostles Build? Register and sign up for your build days here.
An Apostles Build is a partnership between churches (ideally 12) to work together to fully fund and build a home for a local family. Many congregations have a strong desire to build a Habitat home but lack the means to do so alone. Other congregations are new to our ministry and desire a more modest level of involvement before committing to build a home on their own. The Apostles Build is designed to meet the needs of both of these groups. As Jesus’ original disciples were charged with spreading the word about Jesus, Apostle Churches are charged with furthering Habitat’s mission of providing decent shelter for all of God’s children. If you or your congregation is interested in learning more about the Apostles Build program, please send us an email with your contact information and we will get in touch with you.
How it works.
Each Apostle church is asked to contribute a minimum of 1/12th the sponsorship cost of a home and 1/12th the volunteer labor necessary to construct the home. Here’s an overview of what is asked of our Apostles Build partner churches:
• Pray for the project
• Appoint a project ambassador to serve as a liaison between your congregation and Beaches Habitat
• Raise at least $4,200 in cash or in-kind contributions
• Provide 80 volunteer hours of volunteer labor over the course of the build
• Provide lunches for two volunteer days per build
• Promote the build to your congregation
• Encourage your congregation to attend the traditional wall-raising and house dedication ceremonies
Benefits of an Apostles Build
Benefits of partnering with Beaches Habitat as an Apostle Church include:
- Opportunities for congregations of differing doctoral and ethnic backgrounds to work as a community towards a common goal.
- Habitat provides a vehicle for many of your members to respond to God’s call on their life. Your church likely has congregation members who God has gifted with skills that best serve the Kingdom on a Habitat worksite. Getting these people connected with a ministry that utilizes their skills is essential to their spiritual growth.
- Habitat projects are attractive to new and inactive members because they can see tangible results quickly and they have a definitive beginning and end.
- Habitat projects are interesting and fun. They communicate love and a willingness to reach beyond the boundaries of the church campus. They get your members out of the pews and into action. As a result, churches often experience growth and increased giving during the span of Habitat projects.
“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
1st John 3:18
