Some 450 volunteers turned out for last weekend’s community service projects involving the eight Eau Claire churches affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
The “God’s work. Our hands” activities culminated on Sunday with a wide variety of efforts aimed at making positive differences in the community. The snowy weather didn’t appear to keep people away, according to Philip Ruge-Jones, associate pastor of Grace Lutheran Church.
Ruge-Jones was one of about a dozen people on the committee that coordinated the volunteer efforts.
“Many people braved the weather to serve the community out in the snow, while others shifted to indoor projects to provide a similar benefit,” he said in an email.
Participating churches, in addition to Grace Lutheran, were Good Shepherd, Hope, Immanuel, St. John, Spirit, Trinity and University Lutheran. Sunday’s efforts began with a joint worship service at Trinity Lutheran Church.
See also the pastoral column by Ruge-Jones at http://cvpost.org/ChippewaValleyPost/archive/
Cleaning up the headstones at St. John’s cemetery was among the tasks undertaken by the volunteers. Others worked on highway cleanup, preparing bandages for international health kits and serving meals at The Community Table.
A combined choir from the churches sang for residents at Prairie Pointe and River Pines facilities for seniors in Altoona. Other activities included making tiny winter homes for bees and crafting Christmas ornaments to be sold to benefit Beacon House, according to Ruge-Jones, who added that additional people “were trained for advocacy work on causes that matter.”
ELCA congregations across the country set aside a Sunday each year to work on projects that will better their communities, under the general theme of pursuing peace and justice. This is the first year that the effort in Eau Claire has coordinated volunteers from all eight local ELCA churches.
Ruge-Jones expressed thanks “to all our community partners who made this time together possible,” and added:
“As we gathered in worship, our T-shirts revealed that all eight of the ELCA congregations had gathered to work together for the good of Eau Claire. As our worship ended, our service began. On this one day, we provided ourselves with a vivid reminder of what we want to be every day of the year.”