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Church Members Celebrate with Day of Service

Tuesday, October 1st, 2013 | Uncategorized | No Comments

East TN Mountain ViewsTo celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), members of Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church in Tellico Village formed teams to help with projects in the community. They joined with 10,000 other congregations of the ELCA in celebration by being God’s hands and feet in their communities.

As they completed their projects, 58 Shepherd of the Lake members sported bright yellow t-shirts with the theme slogan “God’s work. Our hands.” The ELCA encouraged all congregations to use this day to serve and show love for their neighbors by helping to meet the needs of their communities.

Pastor Laura Shally, who leads the congregation, commented, “We are a church that rolls up our sleeves and gets to work. Our mission is to share God’s love with the world, and this is a way we can actively live out our purpose close to home.”

Projects for the day included refurbishing the walking path at the Loudon Animal Shelter, weeding and planting at the Memory Garden at The Neighborhood Assisted Living Facility, assisting with cleaning the Good Shepherd Center in Madisonville, among others. A diversity of projects allowed everyone to be involved. After a brief worship service, teams dispersed to their project sites to work.

Some teams returned to the church for lunch, while volunteers distributed lunches to those working at more remote locations such as Madisonville. Pat Yeager, a church member who coordinated the lunch of sandwiches, fruit, chips, and cookies for the volunteers, reported, “We sent out 32 lunches and extra water to those working further away.”

A number of church members volunteer regularly at the animal shelter, The Neighborhood, and Good Shepherd Center, so the church was eager for the opportunity to take on larger tasks that required a team of people. Howard Kastner, who worked on the Memory Garden project, said, “To quote an old saying, ‘Many hands make light work.’”

At the Memory Garden, the team planted pansies, chrysanthemums, daylilies, and gladiolus bulbs and relocated some existing herbs and perennials in the beds. The garden is available to residents of The Neighborhood’s memory unit and their families. Tanya Wilson, Activities Director at the facility, was delighted about the project. She said, “It will be great to have some color in the garden when we have our family night this fall.” Another team went to The Neighborhood later in the day to host bingo with the residents.

Twelve men and women from the church tackled the task of reclaiming the walking path at the Loudon County Animal Shelter. The eight-mile path, which was originally designed to provide prospective dog owners a place for a test walk, had become overgrown and unusable. The group removed brush and cleaned out the path, which will allow it to be used again. Tom Schemberger, who led the team, praised the group’s effort. “They persevered and did a great job, despite the heat and the thistles,” he said.

At the Good Shepherd Center, a team of 13 people quickly got to work with the goal of providing a thorough cleaning that is not possible during day-to-day operations. Some cleaned out and reorganized cupboards in the kitchen pantry, as well as shelves and cabinets in the office, reception area, and conference room. Others dusted or swept and mopped floors. Team leader Lynda Floehr, a church member who volunteers weekly at Good Shepherd, commented, “It really didn’t take us that long to give the facility a complete cleaning. We all pitched in and got the work done.”

Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church is located at 143 Chota Center in the business community center of Tellico Village, where they worship weekly on Sundays at 9:00 a.m. “God’s work. Our hands.” projects were an outgrowth of several ongoing ministries of the congregation. For more information, call (865) 816-4756 or visit www.shepherdofthelaketn.org.

Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church
143 Chota Center in Tellico Village
(865) 816-4756
www.shepherdofthelaketn.org

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