The spire of Clairmont Presbyterian Church towers over one of DeKalb County’s busiest intersections, bustling with drivers headed to nearby neighborhoods, townhouse communities and the popular Toco Hills shopping center. Yet within five miles of the corner of Clairmont and N. Druid Hills roads is a side of society often overlooked in the congestion.
The 450-member church wants to change that. On Feb. 10, members will fan out into that 5-mile radius to offer food and clothing as well as moral and spiritual support to the less fortunate in their backyard.
“Our driving motive is that you can’t love what you don’t know,” said Associate Pastor Bobby Hulme-Lippert. “We wanted to find a way to say we know our city.”
The Sunday of “Acts of Worship” will kick off with a short service in the sanctuary, after which members will gather in groups and travel to 16 locations in the community. The focus is on organizations or situations involving children, refugees and the poor.
“Each group will do an activity, such as painting at the Clarkston Community center where we’ll also share a meal with people there,” said Hulme-Lippert. “At Hagar’s House, an emergency shelter for women and children, we’ll be making pizza. There are two retirement groups in our community that don’t get visited that often. But I think the most creative thing we’re doing is having one team leader take 12 people on public transportation. Most of our congregation doesn’t even know what it means to do that. What do you see when you get off at the Five Points station? We don’t just want to serve; we want to put names to the faces of those in need.”
One of the activities will be led by Teresa Hamilton, head of Lady T’s Homeless Ministry that delivers food to the hungry.
“I”m taking a crew with soup, bottled water, blankets and coats to the people who live in the parks and viaducts around here,” said Hamilton. “I hope to have about 18 people with me.”
The idea for a day of service came up last year when church members began thinking about their annual service project.
“Each year, we try to do a big thing in our fellowship hall where we have the congregation sign up for a mission trip or to do something in the community,” said Hulme-Lippert. “But it had gotten flat. It’s not exciting to sit in the hall and talk about things we could do. Instead, we decided to reverse the process.”
For the last four months, the church has been contacting local agencies to arrange activities and making what it hopes will be connections that will continue well after the day ends.
“We want this to be a long-term thing, not just for one day,” said Hulme-Lippert. “That means finding folks who are withing a 5- or 7-mile radius where we can say, ‘Clairmont’s here, and we’re called to love and serve this community.’ This is our way of doing it and not just talking about it.”
Members of the public are invited to participate in the day as well. The opening service starts at 9 a.m., and the day ends with a 6 p.m. celebration in the church sanctuary. Volunteers are invited to sign up online at www.clairmontpres.org, or by calling 404-634-3355.
Each Saturday, we shine a spotlight on a local neighborhood, city or community. To suggest a place for us to visit, e-mail H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or call 404-514-6162.
About the Author
