The first is this Saturday (Oct. 15) at EPUMC. Our Trustees will coordinate a “clean up” at EPUMC from 9 -12 noon. Trustees will have several small, hands-on projects that you can do that will make a big difference in how our facility looks. These projects include: closing the garden, checking and tightening bolts on playground equipment, cleaning windows as well as a few other small projects.
Usually “trustees will coordinate” has meant that nine trustees and parts of their families show up and do as much as they can. This year we hope that a few more will find some time to be here, so that a lot more of these projects can be completed. Many hands do make for short work. You don’t need to worry about signing up or telling someone you are coming; just show up and we’ll find something you can do that makes a difference.
The other event is coming Sunday, Oct. 30, during worship. We are calling worship that day, “Servant Sunday.” Each Sunday we receive our offering as part of an intentional “response” to hearing God’s word in worship. On Sunday, Oct. 30, we are going to take that response a bit deeper and have a couple of hands-on projects that will be our response as a congregation.
These projects will include putting together “Cleaning Buckets.” Cleaning Buckets are an ongoing project of our United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). UMCOR provides emergency assistance for people all over the world. As I’ve mentioned a few times, every single dollar of our giving to UMCOR goes to the need for which it is intended. UMCOR has the resources and infrastructure to respond to specific emergencies like the flooding in Louisiana and the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
EPUMC will buy supplies for as many buckets as we can raise the money to fill. Our goal is 15, which is about $1000, but I think we can do more that that. These buckets need to be packed in a very specific way, so we’ll need more than a couple of hands.
We are also thinking about making sandwiches for the homeless in Minneapolis. Kids will also have a project or they can work alongside parents. And we will most likely have a few left over projects to do from the Trustees’ “clean up.” My guess is that we will need at least a few “testers” to make sure we get the playground equipment bolted down tightly enough.
So on Oct. 30, wear really comfortable clothes. We will gather in the sanctuary to sing and pray and hear God’s word and then spend most of our time responding to God’s word, which is what it means to live as servants of Jesus Christ.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan