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Kansas Church Finds Service a Community Blessing
SALINA, KS (February 19, 2004) - First Covenant Church in Salina has started a
Servant Evangelism team to reach their neighbors with God's love in
tangible ways.
From delivering food to the homes of needy families to handing out
candy at a local nursing home, parishioners have given volunteer time to
various community organizations. "We want to touch people in a way that
they haven't been touched before by the church," said Rob Johnson,
associate pastor, who helped organize the ministry.
"The church being kind to them makes some people suspicious," he said.
"But all of this is evangelism – it's part of the process. It's taking
the idea of random acts of kindness to a redemptive level."
Dan Pietrzyk, senior pastor, says First Covenant has always been highly
involved in the community but not in a coordinated way. The idea of a
Servant Evangelism team started when the pastoral staff had delivered
cookies in the area as a way to get to know some of the church's
neighbors.
Later, First Covenant heard about the idea of a Servant Evangelism from
Steve Sjogren, a pastor in Cincinnati (who had grown up at a Covenant
church in Marquette, Kansas). A group from the church went to a Servant
Evangelism conference in Cincinnati and bonded together to form a team
for First Covenant.
Servant Evangelism projects began in November as a dozen people went to
a discount grocery store and bagged groceries for customers for an hour.
A few weeks later, a contingent gave candy to the staff at a nursing
facility. In December, people from the church delivered 108 bags of
groceries to local families who were in need. 48 took part in the
deliveries and said that their conversations with the families were
often quite powerful.
"We had people who delivered groceries and a person at the door talked
about losses they had experienced and we've had people from the church
stand and pray with them," said Johnson. "That happened probably a dozen
times."
On New Year's Eve, eight First Covenant parishioners became designated
drivers for those in need at "The Groove," a twenty something hangout in
Salina. Using the church van, the parishioners made four trips to drive
home people who needed a ride home from the bar.
Perhaps the most interesting bit of Servant Evangelism occurred last
month, said First Covenant pastoral staff members. The church made a
giant "Thank You" card for the staff of the Salina Regional Health
Center, acknowledging their care for the community.
About 300 parishioners signed the card and stuck lollipops all over it.
The card was so big the church needed to transport it to the hospital in
a pickup truck. After the church presented the card to the hospital CEO
and other administrators, the card was placed in the lobby of the
facility so that visitors could view it.
"We thought we might be able to touch the employees at best," said
Johnson. "But we were able to affect all those who came into the hospital."
For Doug McHenry, associate pastor, First's Covenant's Servant
Evangelism ministry is more than just a public relations effort. "It
gives people a chance to identify themselves with Christ outside of the
church walls," he said. "It's a baby step for them but it may lead them
to a next step of telling people about Christ. It's a benefit to the
people being served but it's a bigger benefit to our people."
McHenry is working on another service-related project called CARE, which
calls parishioners to care, affirm, refresh, and encourage their
neighbors. A leadership team of three women would oversee a team of 20
volunteers that serve quadrants of the community. Volunteers would
provide everything from making meals for a family to babysitting.
Service elements have also been integral to a college ministry program
that attracts more than 100 students from four area schools, said
Johnson. The group meets on Tuesday nights and has used outreach and
mentoring elements to reach out to and deepen the faith of young adults.
Pietrzyk said, "These are ways to create links in the community as a
church. It's a cable that you throw across a divide to create a bridge."
First Covenant Church has over 750 in average worship attendance in a
city of 47,000 in central Kansas. For more information, call
785-823-3792 or check the church's website at www.firstcovenantsalina.org.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
