Christian Reformed Church Joins 9/11 National Day of Service

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> CRC Joins 9/11 National Day of Service

July 20, 2011 -- ServiceLink, the Christian

Reformed Church?s office that solicits and works
with volunteers,  is looking for 100 CRC churches
to join in a national Day of Service that will be
held on Sept. 11, the 10th anniversary of the
deadliest terrorist attacks to ever occur in the United States.

As part of the project, ServiceLink is pointing
to this Bible verse, as a way to remind
Christians of what they are called to do: Matthew
25:35 "For I was hungry and you gave me something
to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something
to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick
and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

The hope is that this national service event will
be the largest of its kind in U.S. history.
ServiceLink will keep track of churches that sign
up to participate. A website on the project was
posted this week:
<http://www.crcna.org/pages/servicelink_dayofservice.cfm>Day of Service.

More than 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11,
2001. Terrorists flew planes into the World Trade
Center in New York City and the Pentagon in
Washington, D.C., while one plane, apparently
bound for another target in Washington, D.C.,
crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

ServiceLink is asking CRC congregations to

participate in the service project as a way of
remembering what happened on that Tuesday morning
10 years ago and to honor those people who perished in the attacks.

By joining in a service project, CRC

members  "can be the hands and feet of Jesus to
our communities through acts of kindness,
compassion and hospitality," says Lisa Sochacki,
coordinator of ServiceLink in the United States.
"Let?s reflect God's love on (what may be) the
largest day of service in U.S. history.?

Called "Day of Service: Be the hands and feet of
Jesus," this new ServiceLink program will
continue after the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
There will be other opportunities to serve,
perhaps three or four a year to start.

"These are short, single-day events that churches
and individuals will get involved in their communities," says Sochacki.

The CRC office in Grand Rapids, Mich., plans to
participate in the 9/11 Day of Service by asking
employees to take their lunch hour on Friday, 9/9
? since 9/11 falls on a Sunday -- and join in a
service project at the building.

ServiceLink also wants to document the community
services in which individuals and congregations
become involved on 9/11. ServiceLink is asking
people to send photos and a brief description of their work.

Details are being worked out for the photos and
descriptions and names of churches that
participated to be included on the ServiceLink
website and in the weekly CRC News electronic
newsletter that goes out to some 5,000 people.

A winning photo will be chosen and featured.
There will be a form on the ServiceLink website
in which people can report their ?Act of Service?
so they will be included in the 100 churches.

> There also will be a link on the website to
> download ideas of what individuals and
> congregations can do to participate. People can
> also download a poster as well as bulletin inserts from the website.

> --
> Chris Meehan
> News & Media Manager
> Christian Reformed Church in North America
> 1-616-224-0849