March is the month when basketball junkies go mad over conference tournaments and the NCAA’s “Big Dance” to determine the national champion. It’s affectionately known as March Madness.
There’s some madness going on in south Florida as well, but it’s not over basketball. It’s all about mission work. Faith Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Cape Coral, Fla., has designated the entire month of March as a time of Mission Madness to do work within the church and in the community, all for the benefit of others.
Susan Rice, associate pastor of the 1,500-member Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation located on the Gulf Coast of south Florida, said this is the first year Mission Madness has been tried at Faith though it is an endeavor she has been part of at other churches she has served, including nearby Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church in Naples.
“I’ve done it at a couple of other churches, and we try to make it coincide with the basketball tournaments,” said Rice. “We think it will grow as we do it more and more.”
Monitoring the Madness
Mission Madness started on March 1 and lasts until March 31. The goal is two-fold, Rice explained. It’s about having members of the Faith congregation already involved in community assistance – such as volunteering in schools, libraries, hospitals and food pantries – realize how they are helping and continue to reach out. It’s also designed to encourage people not involved with mission work to join in and make a difference.
The goal is to put in 6,000 hours of mission work by month’s end. A large thermometer, similar to those used by the United Way during fundraising campaigns, sits in the church narthex and is used to track the hours of work put in by members.
The church’s youth group, which has about 80 members, is participating in the churchwide mission project, but also has established its own goal of 600 hours.
“You plan things like this but never realize how invested people will be until they get involved,” Rice said. “People have been really excited about this.”
Apparently, there has been an investment in the challenge by members of the church, including many seasonal affiliate members and regular visitors. In the first 10 days, nearly 2,000 hours of mission work were logged, putting the congregation a third of the way to its goal a third of the way through the month.
“I’ve got a feeling we may go over that 6,000 hours,” Rice said.
Reaching out in different ways
The tasks being performed to reach people are both inward and outward. Hours can be counted for work done in the church, such as teaching Sunday school or assisting with various programs offered at FPC. But most of the mission work is going outside the church in a variety of ways.
Young people are assisting with landscaping needs at the church, in parks, at schools and homes in the Cape Coral community and helping with preschool projects. Children are baking cookies and delivering them to homes in the neighborhoods. Adults are helping with building projects, landscaping, and volunteering their time and talents with various organizations in the town.
“We’re reaching out in so many ways to affect others in a positive way and sharing our faith as well,” Rice said. “I’m sometimes overwhelmed by the way people of this congregation give back to this community. It’s a church that is welcoming and inviting, and all about service.”
Some examples of other mission work being done include:
- A church member going into assisted living centers and to homes of shut-ins to play his accordion and then staying for individual visits.
- Two women and a teenager getting together to cook Crockpot meals and freeze them to take to a neighbor (not a church member) who was just returning from the hospital after surgery.
- A youth volunteering time at school to work with a class of students with special needs.
- Working at Habitat for Humanity to build houses.
- Teaching new technology to people with Macular Degeneration (an eye disorder).
- Delivering food to a family that has a family member under hospice care (not church members).
Service to Him, service to others
Rice noted the importance of reaching out to others and showing them that people care about them and want to help meet their needs.
“Look at the way the church is changing. If we don’t start reaching out into the community and world, there is not going to be a church,” she said. “We’ve got to go outside the church and let people know what the church is about. People aren’t just going to come to us. They need to see us working in their community and letting them know we care about them. We have to build those relationships with them.”
The Mission Madness project allows that to happen. It forces participants to go outside the walls of the church and meet people, engage them in conversation and show them the love of Christ. It is an opportunity to adhere to The Great Commission’s mandate in Matthew 28:18-20 to make disciples of all nations.
The people who are being helped have been receptive to the church’s efforts thus far. Many of them have expressed their gratitude through cards or phone calls to the church. They express how much it means to them that someone takes time out of their schedule to visit and share a gift with them, whether in the form of conversation, food or physical labor.
So while many people will have their eyes glued to televisions to see the halfcourt buzzer-beaters and the rim-rattling tomahawk slam dunks on basketball courts the rest of the month, members of Faith will continue ministering to the Cape Coral community and beyond.
“It’s about doing God’s work,” Rice said. “Sometimes as members we get bogged down in the business of the church, and that’s important. But we forget what we are really here to do and that’s to serve Him by serving others. That’s what it’s really all about. He’s our Savior, and if we are serving our Lord Jesus Christ and others, that’s what matters. We can all agree on that.”