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Michigan Church Puts 'Faith in Action' in Community
SARANAC, MI (July 13, 2004) - For the past dozen years, a Covenant church in
Michigan has helped make its corner of the world a little brighter
through community service projects.
During this year's project, titled "Faith in Action," volunteers from
Saranac Community Church (SCC), put in a new sidewalk to improve access
to the church and worked at a local state park, improving trails while
picking up litter in a beautification effort. Parishioners also helped a
local parachurch agency.
According to volunteer coordinator Virgil Biggs, as many as six projects
annually are completed by volunteers ranging in age from grade-schoolers
to senior adults. About 70 church members on average volunteer for
projects, which include painting, installing roofing, landscaping and
brush removal, demolition of buildings, and constructing
handicap-accessible ramps, among other things.
The church of 200 has performed repairs on more than 50 homes since
then, said Biggs, who does preliminary work each year by scouting out
the neighborhood to find out who might need assistance. The church has
set aside about $5,000 for the work camp, which usually lasts one week,
Biggs added.
"At first it might appear that people would be offended," Biggs said.
"But I have only had one person not agree to let us do the repairs.
Frankly, they are so grateful and most shocked that we are willing to
pay for everything.... I had an 80-year-old woman share that it was the
first time in her life that anyone had done something for her without
expecting something in return."
Saranac Community Church is located in a western Michigan town of around
5,000 between Grand Rapids and Lansing. A former United Church of Christ
congregation, it became a Covenant congregation in 1998. Pastor John
Madvig stated that the church's concern for the community helped
convince him to accept a call to pastor there.
"It was one of the key points of the church profile when I was
considering my call to the church," said Madvig, who came to Saranac in
2001. "The intentional reaching out to people was important, especially
since most of the projects are for those who aren't part of the church.
But the projects have led some people to calling this their church home.
Madvig continued, "I think the church comes together in this ministry.
People of all ages get involved. We have grade-school children helping
and a 93-year-old woman drives around to the sites and videotapes the
events to let people at the church know what we're doing. We don't have
a whole lot of ethnic diversity but we do have economic diversity. We
have been experiencing layoffs (in town), like most of Michigan. I
remember that we helped one woman who was retired and couldn't keep up
with her property. Another family had their trailer condemned and we
rebuilt that. And Virgil (Biggs) has a pretty good ear on the needs of
the community and that helps the projects come together."
SCC has been involved in service ministry but has also committed to a
mission focus "nearly one quarter of the church's budget goes into
mission efforts at home or abroad" and SCC parishioners are currently
involved with a parachurch ministry in Ecuador.
For more information on the church, call Madvig at 616-642-6322 or check
the church website at www.saranacchurch.org .
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
