Church Members Serve Saline on Sunday

Members of the Saline Community Church are rolling up their sleeves and serving Saline Sunday.

After a brief morning service, anywhere from 60 to 100 people will divide up into smaller groups, drive to four or five sites in the community and spruce things up a little.

According to Pastor Peter Rufener, it is the third year that the 10-year-old church is “Serving Saline.”

“We think it is a practical way to demonstrate our love of Christ in the community,” said Rufener. “This falls in line with our mission to make a difference in the community. It’s part of the core of who we are. Our church believes that we should serve the community, not that the community should serve the church.”

There are several projects planned. One group will walk around the high school picking up trash and debris that built up over the winter. Another group will work on a couple homes in a modular housing community, moving furniture, cleaning inside and outside, mowing the lawn, cleaning up broken tree limbs and doing spring cleaning.

“The woman who lives there is finding it harder to do the yard work, so we’re going to help her out,” Rufener said.

Another group will work on cleaning up Canterbury Park.

“Depending on how quickly the group gets done, they might go knock on the doors and ask a few neighbors if they have any yard work that needs to be done,” Rufener said.

One of the great things about the event, Rufener said, is watching people work together.

“It’s great to see the different generations worker together. You’ll see a 5-year-old kid and 50-year-old man working side-by-side,” he said.

The groups usually finish working about 12:45 p.m. and meet at Saline Community Church for pizza. Rufener said the group invites the residents they’ve helped during the activity.

Guests are welcome to join the church in serving Saline. Anyone interested should meet at the church for the service at 10 a.m. The church is located at 211 Willis Road, the same building that houses the Fifth Corner Teen Center during the week.