Doing Sundays
James 1:22-25 says “Be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” And James 2:14-26 says, “Faith without works is dead.” While we at Valley believe we cannot earn God's grace, we also believe that we need to be living out our faith, not just talking about it. The Latin motto "Ora et labora," means, "Work is prayer, and prayer is work." Those of you who have engaged in a regular prayer practice know how challenging it can sometimes be to set aside time during the day for prayer. So many other things call for our attention. We know keeping a practice of prayer is work! But how many of us consider work as prayer?
At Valley we all have the chance to find out, by celebrating "Doing Sunday." On fifth Sundays of the month, when they occur, instead of a regular sermon in worship, we have a brief scriptural reflection and then we participate together in a short project to benefit a ministry or agency in our community. We also hear from someone at that agency about the kind of work they do and who it is they serve. Besides helping our neighbors, Doing Sunday creates an opportunity for intergenerational fellowship and conversation (folks from 2-92 participate!), and it challenges us all to be Christ's hands and feet in the world.
For our very first Doing Sunday in June 2014, we used our Communion table to make 200 sandwiches for Chapel on the Green in downtown New Haven, and then after worship some of us went to CotG to serve. Over the course of three years, we have assembled patchwork soup packs for our local food pantries, made birthday boxes for a women's shelter, stuffed backpacks for kids in need, tied fleece blankets for hospitalized children, assembled newborn kits for a maternity clinic and foot care kits for a foot care clinic, made casseroles for a soup kitchen, and much more.
At Valley we all have the chance to find out, by celebrating "Doing Sunday." On fifth Sundays of the month, when they occur, instead of a regular sermon in worship, we have a brief scriptural reflection and then we participate together in a short project to benefit a ministry or agency in our community. We also hear from someone at that agency about the kind of work they do and who it is they serve. Besides helping our neighbors, Doing Sunday creates an opportunity for intergenerational fellowship and conversation (folks from 2-92 participate!), and it challenges us all to be Christ's hands and feet in the world.
For our very first Doing Sunday in June 2014, we used our Communion table to make 200 sandwiches for Chapel on the Green in downtown New Haven, and then after worship some of us went to CotG to serve. Over the course of three years, we have assembled patchwork soup packs for our local food pantries, made birthday boxes for a women's shelter, stuffed backpacks for kids in need, tied fleece blankets for hospitalized children, assembled newborn kits for a maternity clinic and foot care kits for a foot care clinic, made casseroles for a soup kitchen, and much more.