September 22, 2020 in Congregations
God’s work. Our hands. Service
On (and after) Sunday, September 13, 2020, SEPA congregations joined others across the ELCA for the annual Day of Service projects. Each year, “God’s work. Our hands. Sunday” brings Lutherans out to serve their communities.
This year, even though gathering was limited by the pandemic, churches still managed to serve neighbors near and far. Read some of their stories below.
Have pictures, videos, or stories of your Day of Service project? Upload them at sepasynod.wetransfer.com.
Redemption, Philadelphia
Redemption members assembled community bags that included community resource listings, hand sanitizer, masks, coloring materials, and other fun goodies.
“We hope that the community appreciated this outreach and the bags connect them with resources they might need,” says Pastor Joey Klinger.
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Holy Trinity, Wallingford
God’s Work Our Hands Day projects at Holy Trinity Lutheran, Wallingford, included a Community Food & Diaper Collection, Breakfast Bags, Senior Activity Bags, Kid’s Crafts, Hats and Scarfs for the Homeless, and Blankets for Hospice Patients. We also provide a Thank You meal to the volunteers of Garden City Fire Company.
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Trinity, Fairview Village: A Season of Service
Trinity Lutheran Church in Fairview Village has been celebrating not just a Sunday, but a season of God’s Work, Our Hands.
Every month, we make lunches for the Norristown Soup Kitchen. Since COVID-19, our faithful crew continued to make bagged lunches for the guests of the Soup Kitchen.
When May hit, we needed to DO something in all of the isolation of the pandemic. We started a Summer Food Drive every Sunday from 1-3pm. Community members and friends of Trinity would drop off donations needed for Daily Bread Community Food Pantry, the 4th largest food bank in Montgomery County, and the Outreach House of St. James Episcopal, Evansburg. We also have an amazing crew of sandwich makers, who make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches each week for Welcome Bread, a ministry of Welcome Church.
A faithful group of Trinity volunteers come every week, and create a contact free dropoff experience, from greeting you at the beginning of the drive through dropoff, to removing donations from your car’s back seat or trunk area.
We were so excited to see the community response. They asked us to continue the drive to Thanksgiving. And so you will find the faithful fleet of volunteers in Trinity’s parking lot, ready to receive your donations and bless them for those who will receive them.
To date, we have collected 8016lbs of nonperishable food, over $2000 in gift cards to help buy perishable food like produce and dairy, and 13,484 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The Holy Spirit inspired a country church to live out God’s Work, Our Hands during this pandemic. Thanks be to God!
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St. Paul’s, Glenside
Gods Work Our Hands Sunday! Youth from St. Paul’s in Glenside filled 19 reusable bags with earth friendly cleaning products, decorated, and filled 9 bags for children of self-care items for the local Interfaith Food Pantry in Roslyn.
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Christ, Niantic
To celebrate God’s Work, Our Hands at Christ, Niantic, in-person worshipers brought something they use or create with their hands to do God’s work. After each person explained what they do, they left their symbol before the altar, where we sought God’s blessings. Then a list of all the things one can do with hands in the church was read, and when people heard of an activity in which they participate, they raised their hands!
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Advent, West Chester
For God’s Work, Our Hands, at Advent, over 10,000 meals were assembled with a Rise Against Hunger Event. We had participants from Advent, our boy scout troop, 222, Willistown United Methodist Church, and the West Chester Christian (Chinese) Evangelical Church that we also provide space for. The event included all ages, from very young children through seniors.
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Ascension, Washington Crossing
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Good Shepherd, King of Prussia
Good Shepherd has sent goods to serve 443 households in the Philippines and have raised nearly $1,800 for the project. Click image below to watch video:
