Thursday, February 12, 2009

What's a Time Bank?

A time bank is a community of people who support each other. Are you great at email and willing to help someone who isn't? Can you help someone with yard work? Are you good at editing or party planning? Earn "Time Dollars" by offering your services to Time Bank! Then, when you need a minor home repair, transportation to a doctor's appointment, or pet care [just for example, there's WAY more options], cash in your "Time Dollars" instead of Googling help, paying someone from the Yellow Pages, or going into debt.

But the coolest thing about Time Bank is entire churches can register as "neighborhoods" online making the people inside them available to each other and to the community. Not only would doing so archive and organize the talents and spiritual gifts of the members of a church, it would also give your church access to people in the community God loves like crazy who actually need something from you!!! You won't have to knock on their doors or wonder what their needs are because they'll log in and actually tell you what they need!!!

That's why we at TF will be joining our local Time Bank, offering all the ordinary things we already do like movie nights, singing bands, potluck lunches, storytelling [think VBS or Kids Church] as ways for others in the community to come spend their time dollars. And we'll also be posting the passions and talents of people in our church [with their permission] willing to "tithe their time" allowing others in the community to join our "neighborhood" long before they belong [if ever] to our "church."

Because we think this is a great idea, we hope you'll consider starting/joining a Time Bank as well. If you contact Time Banks USA, they'll send you a start-up kit. Click the pic for FAQ's about Time Banks. What do you think about Time Banks? Don't you think you and your church could help reweave the community one hour at a time?


Time Banks USA
5500 39th St NW
Washington, DC 20015
www.timebanks.org
(202) 686-5200

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