Is On
Saturday, June 9 &
Sunday, June 10, 2012
God's Love in Action
Serve Day FAQs
We did something like this last year. Is this the same organization?
Yes. 5 Churches partnered together and created Serve Day. It was well done and they built great relationships with their community and other churches. The Calgary Evangelical Ministerial Association saw the value of what these 5 churches were doing and wanted to see more churches involved.
How is this different from past years?
To the community it will look no different. With more churches getting on board, the centrally based on-line organizing structure was going to be too much for the Serve Day volunteers.
Instead of the Serve Day team approving and finding volunteers for projects, that will be now given to the local church. They know their community far better than us and any relationships that are built can be directed back to the local church.
The Calgary Evangelical Ministerial Association desires to be a catalyst rather than the organizers of Serve Day. This is not meant to be a complex concept. Do something to bless others in your community – no strings attached. Remember to have fun and see God in the service you perform.
Why are we serving the community on June 9th and 10th?
We want to mobilize local churches into serving their immediate community. We want to spread the gospel through our actions. We believe by serving our community's needs we are following the biblical command to love our neighbors. It is a way for us on a large scale to show Christ's love to others in practical ways. It is THE church serving together.
I really cannot attend on June 9th & 10th - is there another way I can help?
Yes, in several ways.
- Propose projects to your church coordinator. You may have ideas or know others who might - look around and talk it up with friends, especially outside your church.
- Help your church coordinator pre-plan and organize a project. Your coordinator will need someone to contact the volunteers, contact the recipient, and line up materials if needed.
- Consider a financial contribution. Some projects may require materials or equipment that the homeowner or agency cannot afford. You may give it in an offering envelope and mark it as designated to Serve Day.
- Pray for us, those we are serving and the communities, that all may see God's love in action and help further his kingdom.
What kind of projects will there be?
Whatever you believe will serve God by serving others in your community. The needs served may be obvious, but they may not be. We want to reach out beyond our church attendees and not only to "the poor and needy, widows and orphans". Many of your neighbours could be impacted by someone just lending a hand. Or maybe they know others who could could really use some help.
Here are a few ideas that may inspire you to propose some projects:
- Tidy up a yard that you've noticed the owner has trouble maintaining.
- Use your pickup truck to take some stuff to the dump that you've seen languish in a neighbour's yard.
- Bake some cookies and take them and coffee to the people who have to work on Sunday at the local convenience store.
- Repair a wobbly fence. Straighten a crooked front walk.
- Organize a pick-up game of baseball for some idle and lonely kids.
- Visit a seniors' home and talk to them.
How will these projects be paid for?
Help your coordinator to choose projects that are high in labour but low in cost. BUT, if your church recognizes that your community needs something that has a high cost to it, communicate that to your friends and raise the money. When a great project bubbles up from a small idea, people get on board. You will know when you’ve hit on a great idea. It will be easy to get others excited about it.
Maybe the coordinator and their team will find a project where the cost is paid for by the recipient but the labour is provide by your church.
If the person/organization receiving the Serve Day assistance also needs help covering the cost of materials and equipment, this should be indicated in the project proposal. (It is also helpful to estimate list the total cost of materials and a breakdown.) Once the project proposal has been submitted, your Project Coordinators will evaluate and discuss it with their team. A determination will be made as to whether costs can be covered by the donations that have been designated to Serve Day. Don not pry into financial situations but exercise discretion and trust.
What about kids? Can we bring them along?
Kids can make a great addition to the serving team, provided the projects match their maturity and skills. If you're patient and have a little creativity, you can involve your child in any of the "Kid Friendly" projects. You'll know best what project will be a good fit for your family. As a team, you may decide to designate someone to stay with very young children, so everyone else can be free to serve. No childcare is provided but children are welcome so you can model servanthood.
Why is it important to Celebrate afterwards?
We certainly encourage you to gather with your team or join another church for some sort of celebration. We realize that for some teams this might be too much to add to that day.
But gathering together to share stories, hear vision and worship God is
extremely valuable. You will have already been worshipping God through your actions. This is a time to celebrate the bigger picture!
Can people from my church sign up for a service project from another church?
Yes. Anyone can sign up for any service project. Contact the church coordinator through the Serve Day website. It is fun to meet people from different churches and work alongside them for the common goal of serving our community.
What do we say when interacting with those we serve?
Say whatever you are comfortable with that reflects the love of Jesus. Here are some ideas:
- "We're here today doing a community service project to show you God's love in a practical way."
- "If Jesus were in town today, walking about, I think He'd be both saying things and doing things. This is the sort of thing He'd be doing for people."
- "We're here today living out what the Bible says.
- " Instead of saying, "Here, read this", we're saying, "Here, experience this."
Will this be any fun?
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is fun!" - A near quote of 2 Corinthians 3:17...Where there is true, good, clean fun, usually the Spirit of the Lord is found as well.
Are there any secrets to making this work?
Do as good a job as possible. Let's leave everyone we touch with a positive impression of both the love and quality of Christ. Smile while you serve! Don't be distressed when you're denied the opportunity to serve. The real power in our serving projects is in the offer to serve, even more than in the action of serving.
What if things go wrong during our service project?
A few things will definitely go haywire when groups begin to do servant evangelism. It's best to have a flexible, teachable attitude as you reach out. And don't forget to practice smiling as you do it!