FORT SMITH — On the morning of Sept, 22, the Novak family — Ron, Abby, 10-year-old Emma and 8-year-old Sam — met with 170 other Christ the King parishioners to "put the Bible to action" at the parish's first Day of Service.
Armed with shovels and trash bags, they headed out to Martin Luther King Park with their work group to spread mulch around 50 trees and clean up the area.
Other groups went to different sites — one to Mercy Crest to paint seniors' fingernails and play bingo, one to hang clothes at the Salvation Army Thrift Shop, one to feed 120 people at the homeless shelter, one to sort and box food at the River Valley Food Bank, one to paint, power wash and clean gutters at the Boys Shelter — more than 11 sites in all.
"The volunteers did some work we had been unable to do, like cleaning our gutters, sealing our skateboard ramp against the winter weather and painting our carport," Brenda Pereira, a nurse at the Boys Shelter, said. "We were very grateful as these things have been on our to-do list for some time and we were feeling rushed to get it done before winter sets in."
The idea for an annual day of service first came to Jennifer Briselden, Christ the King's youth minister, last June.
"I brought a group of 57 people and a trailer of supplies up to Joplin to help people after the tornado," she said. "My daughter Morgan and her friend walked 30 blocks delivering sandwiches to people who had lost their homes. They gave sandwiches to an elderly couple who had lost everything. The husband and wife started crying. My daughter hugged her and cried with her, and I knew we showed God's love to them, and I thought, 'Why can't we do this in Fort Smith?'"
During the following year, whenever Briselden went to adoration she heard God's voice urging her to minister to the community in Fort Smith in a similar way. When she shared her dream with her pastor, Father Kevin Atunzu, he, too, began to pray. On July 4, he told Briselden that during Mass the thought of a parish day of service kept coming back to him, and he gave her the go-ahead to plan a day of service Sept. 22.
"I've only been at Christ the King two years," Briselden said, "so I brainstormed with the staff to pull together a diverse committee with different talents. I wanted to make adoration a central part of the day and knew the power of prayer would make it run smoothly. Parishioners gave more than 21 hours to adoration while the teams were at their work sites."
The committee initially planned for 80 volunteers, but as more came forward they were able to add projects to their list. When they were concerned about buying work supplies, parishioners contributed $1,600 for tools, wood for cabinets and food for the hungry. Dozens of people baked cookies that teams delivered to policemen, firemen, nurses and youth at the juvenile detention center.
Claudia Scherrey, who worked at Mercy Crest painting residents' fingernails and leading bingo, said, "The theme for the day is 'Faith without works is dead.' This is the first time Christ the King has done this, and I hope it will evolve into an annual event."
"We united with little ones as young as 2 helping in the park, youth from our school, PRE and TARE," Briselden said. "Our elders showed us how to pray, clean and spread God's love. We formed new communities and new fellowship — all of us there for the same purpose and goal."