The week of Sept. 8 through 15 you might see a lot of bright gold and black t-shirts being worn by people all over Bluffton carrying rakes or hammers or paintbrushes and the like, and wearing work gloves.  

Who are these people, and what will they be doing? 

Well, they'll be the people of English Lutheran Church, and they'll be doing acts of random kindness and intentional acts of service as they participate in The AmazingRACE-Week of Service event. 

English Lutheran's parent denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is celebrating its 25th anniversary by encouraging its 10,000 congregations to participate in a nationwide day of service to the community on Sunday, Sept. 8, under the theme of the ELCA logo: "God's work. Our hands."  

"Here at English Lutheran we decided to turn the original one-day event into a week-long "servant race" in which teams will be commissioned and sent out after worship on Sept. 8 to try to accumulate as many "servant hours" as possible in the community, at home, for neighbors, and at church," Rev. Kevin Mohr, pastor, told The Icon.  

He continued:

"You'll be able to recognize our teams that week by those bright t-shirts, designed by our own Robert Reigle.  On Rally Sunday, Sept. 15, we will gather at 9 a.m. to celebrate all of our servants and their servant hours and hear their stories of "keeping their eyes fixed on Jesus" as they "ran the race with perseverance,"  "provoking one another to love and good deeds." (Hebrews 12:1-2 & 10:24).  The week promises to be a fun and rewarding challenge!

"Please feel free to come and join us either Sunday and participate in the AmazingRACE, and then come back in the afternoon on September 15 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. for our annual ice cream social on the church green space."  

For more information, contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 419-358-2591.