Volunteers with Park Chapel Christian Church donated their time Sept. 20 at Eden Elementary School’s playground.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
EDEN — Hedges around the playground. Tree branches hanging low over sidewalks, the parking lot and playground equipment.
It can be a lot of trimming, a lot of pieces to bag and haul to a brush pile at the school’s nature center.
But for a team of about two dozen volunteers, it can be done in an evening.
“It went really well,” volunteer Lauren Upchurch said. “The cleanup was the biggest part of it.”
A team from Park Chapel Christian Church tackled the trimming at Eden Elementary on Sept. 20. They were part of the church’s annual Serve XP, which also included teams at work the morning of Sept. 21. Some of the morning volunteers went to Riley Park, while others worked at Hancock County Food Pantry.
Many local congregations do forms of community service throughout the year, and some individual church members are committed volunteers at local non-profits. Yet several churches also have a dedicated Serve Day or similar event with a focus on going out in teams to help others.
On Sept. 21, a team from Bradley United Methodist Church cleaned up at the Hancock County Vietnam Veterans Memorial on South State Street. Earlier this week, the church delivered apples and other fall treats to the teachers and staff of J.B. Stephens Elementary School.
Emerge Church had a day of service in July, helping some Fortville residents by trimming trees, clearing brush or hauling debris. Volunteers had planned to serve at three homes but ended up helping at 10 in the same vicinity. It was one of four such days this year, pastor Curt Edmondson wrote in an email; they’re scheduled “at the pace as projects come to us.”
Also in July, Realife Church’s annual Serve Day took the form of a back-to-school block party this year. More than 500 volunteers worked stations outside Greenfield-Central High School on July 13, offering free school supplies, haircuts, shoes and groceries to families ahead of the start of a new school year. Some volunteers listened to prayer requests and prayed with those who asked for that. Family photos, inflatables and snow cones added a festival ambiance to the event.
“We wanted everyone in Hancock County to know they were valued and cared for as they began the school year,” said Shawna Banning, Dream Team pastor at Realife. “This event was an outward expression of our love and commitment to serve and uplift our community.”
Trinity Park Church also had a service day with a back-to-school theme in late July. Volunteers helped prepare classrooms at Greenfield Intermediate School and Harris Elementary School, both across the street from the church. The volunteers helped cut out items for bulletin boards, as well as organizing, laminating and other tasks.
Upchurch has participated in several Serve Days (now known as Serve XP) through Park Chapel, the first being not long after she started attending the Greenfield church. She wasn’t so sure at first when a women’s ministry leader suggested it to her. Yet she showed up and joined a team cleaning out a basement at Hope Center Indy, which serves women exiting human trafficking.
It was hard, sweaty work carrying items up the stairs, but she was hooked. It was meaningful to her to be helping an organization already helping others itself.
“It motivates you. It drives you. You’re doing good … They’re doing good,” she said. “It’s like a pay-it-forward thing.”
Upchurch has participated in a variety of serving events since then. Now she is a team leader, often coordinating a project with a Greenfield-Central or Eastern Hancock school and doing a walk-through with school staff beforehand to see what they need done.
She thinks of a Bible verse in the Gospel of Matthew, one where Jesus says he didn’t come to be served but to serve. For those following him, she said, it’s the same.
“That’s what we’re here for — to serve others.”
YOU, TOO?
If your church has also done a recent service project, or has other news to share, send email to [email protected]. Have photos? You can share those, too!
If a church’s service project looks interesting to you, consider asking if you can be part of it next time. “Anybody in the community can help out with it,” said Lauren Upchurch, a team leader with Park Chapel Christian Church’s Serve XP. ‘“You don’t have to go to Park Chapel to participate in it.”
