Overwhelmed? You’re Not Alone.

One person can make a difference. You encourage your youth groups, your congregation, and your community with this message, hoping you can motivate them to make a Christian response to world issues. But as you urge others to accept the “one person” truth, have you ever thought you’re the one person who can’t?

It’s overwhelming.

Whether shepherding a flock of 200 or 2,000, church leaders face relatively the same challenges: not enough time, volunteers, or money. You can’t do it all. And you don’t have to.

Here are just a few resources that offer free materials to help you communicate with your church about the social issues of our time. From flyers to sermon starts to posters to bulletin stuffers, these sites overflow with resources to give you some relief from the details so you can get back to shepherding.

Prayer seems to work, too.

ImagineNoMalaria.org (Fighting Malaria)
In Sub-Saharan Africa, malaria continues to kill at the rate of one person every 60 seconds. But there is hope! Imagine No Malaria is part of a global partnership. Thanks to the efforts of the United Methodist Church and our partners, we are on our way to beating malaria in this generation. Printable bulletin inserts, worship guides, display layouts, graphics, fundraising ideas and more. From United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Energy Star (Energy Conservation)
You’ll find tip sheets, action workbooks, sample messaging, case studies, cash flow opportunity calculators and other resources designed specifically for churches that want to become more energy efficient. From the Environmental Protection Agency.

Bread for the World (Ending Hunger)
Provides newsletters, fact sheets, pastor helps, congregation and community engagement ideas and resources for prayer, worship, education, and reflections in an effort to end world hunger. From Bread for the World.

Engage Together (Human Trafficking)
This tool kit has been designed specifically for the church with input from experts serving in the field and churches already engaged in combating human trafficking throughout our nation. We pray this will be a powerful resource for you — one that will help you to discover how your church and individual members can be mobilized to rescue and restore those in harm’s way, and to prevent such evil from happening in the first place. From the Alliance for Freedom, Restoration, and Justice, Inc.

Two Feet of Love (Overall Social Justice awareness)
This foundational tool describes two distinct, but complementary, ways we can put the Gospel in action in response to God’s love: social justice (addressing systemic, root causes of problems that affect many people) and charitable works (short-term, emergency assistance for individuals).

Let’s Move Faith and Communities (Children’s Health)
Neighborhood and faith-based organizations are well positioned to initiate and coordinate activities that encourage healthy living and well-being. This organization shows trusted leaders in communities and congregations how to empower families and communities in making better choices that improve the health of our nation’s children.

Resources for Racial Justice (Racial Justice)
This tool kit offers many ways to get involved in implementing the Charter for Racial Justice, including Bible studies, worship, programs, workshops, displays, issues, and action ideas. From the United Methodist Women Racial Justice Office.

The Penny Project (Child Poverty)
Youth of American Baptist Churches USA are collecting 14 million pennies to represent the number of children living in poverty in the United States and Puerto Rico. This tool kit shows how you can help. From the American Baptist Home Mission Societies.

Justice for Immigrants (Immigration Reform)
These educational tools include information on how to reach out to the media, tips for pastors who are developing homilies on immigration related issues, and a fact sheet debunking commonly held myths that some opponents of reform claim are facts. From the Catholic Church.