Synod volunteers: Group decides to work in community where ELCA meeting is held
Jamestown resident Art Perleberg swept leaves, dust and debris from an altar Saturday — an offering meant to spread the Gospel by actions rather than words, church leaders said. The Eastern North Dakota Synod Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America met over the weekend for worship, church business and service. More than 400 voting members from 230 churches in cities like Grand Forks, Fargo and Valley City attended.
- Image
- Image
Jamestown resident Art Perleberg swept leaves, dust and debris from an altar Saturday — an offering meant to spread the Gospel by actions rather than words, church leaders said.
The Eastern North Dakota Synod Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America met over the weekend for worship, church business and service. More than 400 voting members from 230 churches in cities like Grand Forks, Fargo and Valley City attended.
Churches of the ELCA in Jamestown are Atonement Lutheran, Trinity Lutheran, St. John’s Lutheran and Immanuel Lutheran.
In most of the assembly’s 23 years, the congregation attends a volunteering workshop. This year however, the group decided to just volunteer instead.
“Workshops can get you all fired up, but it’s so hard to follow through,” said Becky Goetz, volunteer with the synod assembly. Goetz is also the director of Red Willow Bible Camp in Binford, N.D.
So the attendants volunteered at sites throughout the community including the Sheyenne Care Center in Valley City, Gackle Care Center in Gackle and the Anne Carlsen Center, Safe Shelter and North Dakota State Hospital, all James-town. They also knit baby hats for families in the Central African Republic and wrote letters for hunger and justice.
About a dozen volunteers washed windows, filled holes with dirt and completed other spring cleaning projects at the James River Humane Society.
The work they did in a couple of hours normally takes shelter volunteers a whole week, said Skip Olson, president.
“When these adults showed up, I died and went to heaven,” she said.
Jamestown resident Perleberg was one of about a dozen who worked at the Pioneer Church site at Frontier Village in Jamestown.
Perry Ostmo of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sharon, N.D., and his wife, Patti, cleaned pews with Murphy’s Soap, washing away spills, fingerprints and stains. Outside, Jim Storhoff of St. Petri in Nome, N.D., and Roger and Suzanne Brockmeyer of Augustana Lutheran in Grand Forks raked leaves.
“It was pretty dirty in here,” Perry Ostmo said. “A lot of cobwebs.”
It’s important to help, he said, especially in the community hosting the assembly.
“We just wanted to show our love for the community by working,” said Curt Larson, pastor at Milnor Lutheran Church in Milnor, N.D. Larson and his wife, Renee, scraped paint from the church’s entrance.
The assembly meets in a different city each year and may continue its mission blitz next year, Goetz said.
“We’re hoping it’s catchy,” she said.
Sun reporter Katie Ryan can be reached at 701-952-8454 or by e-mail at kryan@jamestownsun.com
Tags: local news, in the area, community, news, synod, volunteers, elca
More from around the web
RSS Feeds