By JAMIE LYNN DROHAN
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - On any given Sunday in East Tennessee, churches are packed with people. This Sunday was a different story for one local church.
Members of Providence Church in Knoxville took the idea of service and worship outside the box.
"One Sunday a year we want to close the doors of our church and go out in the community and actually serve," said Student Minister Jamie Dewald.
And that is exactly what they did Sunday.
Forty volunteers from the church were at Knox Area Rescue Mission instead of church, They pulled weeds, trimmed bushes and power washed on the outside, and they cleaned windows and baked on the inside.
Grant Denton, 13, volunteered to run the power washer to clean up the sidewalk. After spending hours working outside, he said he was grateful Sunday's temperatures were on the mild side.
"It's really nice out today. Pulling weeds, picking up trash off the roads and just really cleaning it up. I mean, it's hard work, but someone's got to do it," said Denton.
"There's plenty of work for everybody. It doesn't matter your age, your abilities. There is something here that everyone can do. KARM always finds a place for everybody," said volunteer Phil Breedlove.
Inside KARM, church volunteers were preparing heaping trays of food for lunch.
"We made chicken casserole, seven layer salad and banana pudding. The residents really like when we do this every year. They really enjoy it because it's a home cooked meal experience and they really like what we prepare for them," said Breedlove.
Volunteers say they hope the work will inspire others to serve the community.
"Nobody wants to do the hard stuff, get out in the sun and pull weeds, scrub down mattresses. Not that that's better service, but we just wanted to do physical labor that nobody wants to do, just because," said Dewald.
Officials at KARM say they are grateful for the hard work provided by volunteers Sunday and hope it's something that will continue in the future.
If you have a group that might be interested in volunteering visit the KARM web site.
