The bishop said his church, also a recipient, will use the donation to support its new senior and after school youth centers and its plans for a Christian school. He hopes they will dispel isolation, especially experienced by seniors, with lunch and intergenerational activities, and assist young people who have generally experienced greater rates of depression during the pandemic.
Other recipients include COGIC congregations in Kentucky, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Louisiana. The grants were administered by the National Christian Foundation and were supported by the Jude 3 Project, Movement Day, Pinetops Foundation and the Pulse movement.
The Church of God in Christ was noted at the start of the pandemic for close to a dozen deaths among its bishops and leaders due to COVID-19. And Mathews pointed out that two members of the denomination died in the massacre at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store earlier in May.
“As we grieve, we must continue to serve and the gospel of Jesus Christ must go forward and it reminds us that we must work while it’s day because when the night comes, no one can work,” he said, quoting the Gospel of John. “I think that we redouble our efforts. We continue to push forward.”
This article originally appeared here.
