‘Thrifty’ Tennessee church participates in Christmastime benevolence

Colby Phelps, 9, and Bailey Phelps, 5, daughters of Farragut Church of Christ Senior Minister Paul Phelps, play on a toy seesaw, part of a donation of items earmarked for Knox Area Rescue Ministries as part of its Corners of Your Field program. (Photo by Margaret B. Wood, via www.redding.com)

Why is a newspaper in California reporting on a Church of Christ in Tennessee?
To be honest, we can’t figure it out. But, for whatever reason, the website of the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif., has a story reported from Knoxville, Tenn., about Tennessee churches’ participation in “Corners of Your Field,” a benevolence effort of Knox Area Rescue Ministries.
The story includes photos from the Farragut Church of Christ in Knoxville. (The photos are credited to the Knoxville News Sentinel, though that newspaper’s website doesn’t carry them. We also found the photos on the website of a newspaper in Kitsap County, Washington. Go figure.)
From the story:

The new Knox Area Rescue Ministries program “Corners of Your Field” is based on an Old Testament passage supporters say easily translates to answer today’s needs.
Leviticus 19: 9-10 instruct farmers to leave the “corners of your field” unharvested “for the needy and for the stranger” to reap. Convert those Old Testament fields into today’s closets, garages, basements and attics filled with excess or unwanted items. That’s the idea behind KARM’s 21st-century “Corner of Your Field.”
The program’s a partnership with 42 East Tennessee nonprofits. Most are churches in Knox County, although other groups including Young Life and the Knoxville Opera participate.
The program offers an incentive for congregations to donate used objects members no longer need or use to KARM thrift stores. KARM returns between 1 and 3 percent of the value of the donated goods to the church in the form of “KARM Cares”.gif?Action=thumbnail&Width=460&algorithm=proportionalt cards. The cards can be used to buy items at any KARM thrift store.

Read the full story.