Part of what's great about our church is what's happening this weekend. Faith in Action is a group that meets one Saturday a month and we put our (ready for it) faith in action. Our church has a hoist that lifts cars in our metal shed, so we can do free car repairs for people who can't afford the fix-it shops. We have a community garden (Wannabe Green Thumbs) that has grown fresh food on our property to give to local food banks. We have a dedicated crew that cooks meals for people in their time of need. But mostly we have off-site construction projects that are usually pretty random. They usually help non-member neighbors of members who feel like they could use some of God's help.
Here's an example of how our ministries work together. I visited Lou, a guy in his sixties who lost part of his leg to diabetes. He's not a church-going guy (his daughter is a member) and when I asked to pray with him, he said, "You go on ahead, it don't matter to me, but I know it makes you feel better to do it." In the process of asking him what he'd like prayers for (uh, hello? no leg!) he surprised me by saying it he didn't want prayers for him, but he was worried about how his family was going to get him in and out of their rambler. They didn't have a ramp, and some of the doors might be too narrow for the chair he was getting.
I passed that prayer request on to our prayer chain, and not ten minutes later, Tracy Schlatter asked me about Lou. I said he really needed a ramp, and she said she had a crew that Saturday that was looking for a project. Long story longer, the crew made a ramp so that Lou could get in and out of his house.
That's what we do. That is a straight line from caring to faith in action.
We also do schools.
Last year, we concentrated on Collins Elementary for National Volunteer Day (I think it's an offshoot of Earth Day, because it's always around the third week of April.) They made garden boxes, painted an unsightly semi-trailer they were using for storage, cut back a ton of blackberry bushes, put up new basketball hoops and we did this:
This year we're going to do another one at nearby Central Ave. Elementary, and I'm planning it for this Friday, and we'll fill in the blanks on Saturday.
Just so you know, we don't just paint stuff on pavement for these schools. One of the things I'm most proud of our church doing - again Tracy Schlatter and Peggy Pielak's baby - is to continue a backpack ministry, which fills backpacks on Friday with food for kids who would otherwise go hungry over the weekend. How many kids in affluent Washington? We do about 70 backpacks each week, and the need is greater than that. We expanded into Franklin Pierce High School last spring, too, along with Collins and Central Ave.
But back to the labyrinth. While it has some questionable practices and practitioners today (it has pagan roots, but so does Christmas and Easter!) I love the Christian symbolism too. The most famous labyrinth is in the cathedral in Chartres, but there are some great ones in this country too. The idea of a labyrinth is to take your troubles to the opening of it, talk with God all the way to the center, where you meet Jesus. Then leave your cares with your Savior in the center and walk all the way out, refreshed. It's literally a prayer exercise, and I have never left a labyrinth sad. It can be a highly emotional experience, especially if you are with others, because even though there is only one way (truth, life) to get to the center, and if you stay on the path, you cannot get lost, you will always find something different and see different people along your journey.
Like my favorite things, obviously, it's a metaphor for the Christian journey.
So if you'd like to be a part of the creation of a labyrinth, be at Central Ave. this Friday around 3; and then we'll fill in the blanks by painting it on Saturday morning at 8 am.
Happy praying!
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