(July 5, 2011) – Mission outreach is an important way that members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) live out their faith.
A host of mission opportunities await Disciples in Nashville as about 5,000 people arrive in the city this week for the Church’s 2011 General Assembly, which will be held at the Nashville Convention Center, July 9-13.
Worship, praise, musical performances, workshops and business sessions will occupy much of the agenda at Assembly. But hundreds of Disciples will start arriving in Nashville on Wednesday night, July 7 for dinner, worship, and a kick off to local mission projects.
“Anytime we engage in mission, we’re acting on our faith, reaching out in service with others, and looking for how God is active in our lives,” said Josh Baird, director of Disciples Volunteering. “One of the reasons I love this ministry is because serving in mission helps describe who we are as Christians.”
Disciples Volunteering and Week of Compassion, the Church’s relief, refugee and development mission fund, started hosting work groups last year to help Nashville recover from the spring 2010 floods. Since May, the work groups efforts have become even more integrated into city-wide and interfaith efforts aimed at helping the city recover.
During the Assembly, hundreds of Disciples youth and older adults will help repair, rebuild and paint several houses around the Nashville area that were damaged in the floods. That work will take place on Thursday, July 7 and Friday, July 8 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Other work groups will pick up where the initial groups left off on Monday and Tuesday mornings, July 11 and 12, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We’ve been pleased to help the people of Nashville move back into their homes after the floods and also to extend the call to Disciples to raise awareness about how much help is needed in a disaster of this magnitude,” said Baird.
Mobile Loaves and Fishes Nashville, a food project serving homeless and working poor populations in the city, will benefit from the work of 15 volunteers on Saturday morning, July 9 at Woodmont Christian Church, 3605 Hillsboro Road from 8:30 a.m. to noon Helpers there will weed, water, mulch, harvest, and process vegetables in the church’s South Hall garden. The produce will be distributed in low income communities around the city.
Volunteers also will assist at Second Harvest Food Bank, 331 Great Circle Road, on Friday, July 8 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. where they will sort non-perishable and perishable food donations in the food bank’s warehouse. Other Disciples volunteers will work at Second Harvest on Tuesday, July 12 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.
All Disciples attending the Assembly have been asked to bring a new book for children in preschool through fourth grade to the Assembly. The books will be shared with the children at the Martha O’Bryan Center, 711 S. 7th St., on Tuesday, July 12 from 9 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. When the books are delivered, Disciples volunteers will first read to the children. Then each child will get to pick out a book for their own personal collection.
Other planned activities include:
- Clean-up at Radnor Lake on Saturday morning, July 9, from 8 a.m. to noon, where about 100 volunteers will be involved.
- Nashville Tools for Schools, Thursday, July 7 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers will also be present on Monday and Tuesday, July 11 and 12 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. NTFS provides small maintenance and construction projects within the public schools and community. Disciples volunteers will help build bookcases to hold the donated books that will be given to the Martha O’Bryan Center and Book ‘Em.
- Hands on Nashville -209 10th Ave., South– which recruits, educates, and coordinates a network of volunteers for community service projects in Nashville will work with Disciples to build wheelchair ramps on Monday, July 11 and Tuesday, July 12 at several community locations.
- Room in the Inn, 705 Drexel Street at 8th Avenue South., is a facility in downtown Nashville that offers resources for homeless men and women, including housing, literacy programs and a weekly meal program. Disciples will assist RITI staff and guests in maintenance projects such as landscaping, painting, cleaning and cooking around the RITI campus on Monday, July 11 from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m.
- Threads of Hope knitting area – During the entire Assembly, yarn, needles, and patterns will be available for knitters to make chemo caps and baby caps, which will be distributed to local hospitals.
- Blood Drive – Charters buses will carry volunteers to the Nashville Red Cross and back to the Convention Center daily on Monday and Tuesday, July 11 and 12 in the afternoon.
For more information on these projects, or to schedule a time to interview persons involved with the volunteer outreach, contact Josh Baird, Director of Disciples Volunteering at 985-778-6915 or Wanda Bryant Wills, Communications Director, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) at 317-523-5892.
#####
