One Sunday a year, First Christian Church, Baxter Springs, meets early for communion, and then goes out into the community to serve people. Church happens that morning without a sermon or singing, just moving hands and feet.
“This ‘Great Day of Service’ stems from the idea that we want to be Jesus in our community,” Pastor Cody Graves said. “We want to be about what he was about. This is not an evangelistic effort.”
Each group sent out is told to start each conversation with, “We’re from the First Christian Church and we wonder if there is anything we could help you with today?”
“We do this service project because we love people, not because we want our church to grow,” Graves said. “This aspect I believe was crucial in its success because it showed people we care about them as a person and not a number.”
That evening the entire community is invited to Sunday Service in the park.“This project shows our community that they are a priority,” Graves said. “It shows people that on a morning that Christians usually meet by themselves to talk about Christian things, we are out in our neighbor’s yards and homes, serving them.”