ELCA members gather together for dedicated day of service

     CHICAGO (ELCA) — Building on the work they do every day, thousands of members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered together Sept. 7 to serve their communities as part of “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday.
     Many wearing bright yellow “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday T-shirts, members of all ages organized and participated in a multitude of service projects across the United States, which included collecting food for local food pantries, assembling personal-care kits for shelters and hospitals, cleaning up public spaces, filling backpacks with much-needed school supplies and writing letters to veterans and to members of Congress.
     “It was a tremendous day of showing that we are church together. Yellow was the color of the day, and many wore it proudly,” said the Rev. David M. Murphy, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Peshtigo, Wis. More than 50 members of Good Shepherd worked in a local park where they resealed the wooden playground.
     “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday provides a unique opportunity for the nearly 10,000 congregations of the ELCA to gather together and lend their hands in service to their neighborhoods and communities. Although the day of service was primarily observed Sept. 7, many congregations schedule activities on other dates throughout the year.
     Members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Charlotte, N.C., constructed a free library located in a low-income apartment complex in Charlotte.
     “This event provided the opportunity for additional members to join in our ministry to these families through the planning, designing and building of the Little Free Library, along with donating hundreds of books over the summer months leading up to ‘God's Work. Our hands.’ Sunday. This project allowed our congregation to use our hands in new ways to continue to do God’s work with this community,” said Sally Barnard Daggett, outreach team leader at Holy Trinity. 
     At St. John’s Lutheran Church in North Versailles, Pa., one group of volunteers cleared brush and weeds from a local cemetery while other members baked and delivered cookies and thank-you notes to local fire and police departments.
     “‘God’s work. Our hands.’ (Sunday) became a time of fellowship and an opportunity to serve beyond the walls of St John’s. It was an opportunity to teach the youth about doing something for someone else,” said St. John’s member Brenda Neundorf, noting that it was difficult “for some of the younger kids to understand why they couldn’t eat the cookies they had just worked to bake. We look forward to participating in ‘God’s work. Our hands.’ (Sunday) next year.”
     Terri Robertson, youth and family minister at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Whittier, Calif., said the day of service inspired the congregation from the early days of planning through the weekend of activities. Members filled and delivered lunch bags to day laborers throughout the city, assembled backpacks with school supplies for the neighborhood elementary school, made fleece blankets for Lutheran World Relief and wrote letters and cards for veterans in Veterans Administration facilities throughout Southern California.
     “From the formation of a planning team to the congregation's donations of school supplies and monetary gifts, and finally the weekend of assembling, packing, cutting, tying and delivering, I witnessed our congregation serve together in ways I've not seen before. Through it all, we grew closer to one another,” said Robertson. “All ages – from our Brownie Girl Scouts to our older members, one just recovering from a stroke – we worked side by side, sharing in a common goal to be the hands of God here in Whittier.
     “On Sunday, when we delivered food bags to those in need throughout our community, we had the chance to see the face of God over and over again. Many were inspired to work in the days and weeks ahead to serve in this way on a consistent and more frequent basis,” said Robertson, who added that a 10-year-old member “summed it up best” when he said, “It feels good to give.”
     Laura Gifford, who helped organize events at Joyful Servant Lutheran Church in Newberg, Ore., said “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday exemplifies the congregation’s calling.
     "As our name indicates, Joyful Servant was founded with a conscious intent to be God's hands and feet in the Newberg community. 'God's work. Our hands.' Sunday provided a wonderful opportunity for us to honor our roots. While helping our community, we helped ourselves to remember that the many parts of our body will continue to make us strong. God provides," said Gifford.
     The congregation of Joyful Servant baked and delivered cookies to local fire departments, wrote notes to shut-ins and worked on a blackberry eradication project to help rehabilitate a local creek. Members also compiled citizenship class packets for Lutheran Community Services Northwest and tied diaper bundles for distribution at Mary’s Place, a Lutheran Community Services Northwest relief nursery, located on church property and named after a founding member of Joyful Servant.
     At Agnus Dei Lutheran Church in Gig Harbor, Wash., members put their faith in action by writing letters to Congress in support of the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions as proposed in the Clean Air Act, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, and the Older Americans Act. Agnus Dei member Phyllis Brandt said that although the congregation “readily responds” to the needs of their neighbors, they also look for ways to help make a difference beyond their local community.
     “Service projects that we undertake benefit local needs. Advocacy letter-writing tackles the root causes on a large scale. We believe that we need to do both,” said Brandt. “Concern for clean air, federal nutritional programs for children (and) programs that promote well-being for older Americans are of such a large scope. But it doesn't mean that we throw up our hands in frustration. We need to let our voices be heard as we join with others who also share an understanding that joined together we can have an influence.”
     The Rev. Mari Larson, pastor of Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church in Clarkdale, Ariz., said the congregation’s “fellowship hall buzzed with excitement” as members worked on projects that included preparing kits for those without homes, sorting clothes for a clothing exchange and moving a non-functioning organ. Pieces from the organ are being made into art that will be sold to fund other ministries of the congregation. On Monday, some members continued the day of service by helping out at a local food pantry.
     “Since the average age of Spirit of Joy members is over 60, we knew that cleaning gutters and raking leaves would leave out some of our members, so we brought ‘God’s work. Our hands.’ Sunday inside and completed projects that didn’t require as much physical stamina. In doing so, we more than tripled the number of people participating in our social ministries,” said Larson. She emphasized that through “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday, “we truly are the body of Christ together in service to friends we haven’t yet met in our communities and the world.”
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with about 4 million members in nearly 10,000 congregations across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of “God's work. Our hands,” the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.

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