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“Days like this remind us that God’s work is often pretty ordinary. It looks like people gathering around a table, packing a bag, carrying a box, making room for someone else, and saying, ‘Yes, I can help.’ And somehow, through those ordinary things, God’s love becomes visible.
“So we give thanks, not because we have done everything but because God has given us the opportunity to join in what God is already doing in the world.”
—Rev. Jay Eckman, pastor, Tree of Life Lutheran Church, Harrisburg, Pa.
Ordinary things. It takes only simple acts of sharing God’s love to build meaningful connections. Responding to Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry’s vision of a connected church, congregations across the ELCA lived out “God’s work. Our hands.” through service in their communities, strengthening relationships as they worked to share God’s love with their neighbors.
Sometimes those neighbors are spread out across several communities. Susan Anderson, pastor of St. Martin Lutheran Church in Kansas City, Kan., said the church is located on the outskirts of the city, in a rural area with no community of homes or businesses. The congregation builds connections through a variety of activities and fundraisers to help people throughout its area. This year’s projects included filling school backpacks, hosting a winter coat drive, serving a community chili supper, and raising funds for Lutheran Disaster Response, homeless shelters and food pantries.
“We are doing our best to go where God leads us in reaching out to our surrounding communities and reaching out to a world in need,” she said.
Anderson, who has served as pastor since 2025, said the congregation has a long-standing commitment to helping its community.
“When visiting with those in our congregation, they told me they have always reached out to others in need and worked to keep the church active within and outside their communities,” she said. “They trust and believe in God’s love for all people, especially, as Jesus says in Matthew 25:40, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers [and sisters] of mine, you did for me.’
“Whether or not we are located within a community, we are a community in Christ. I have only been here a little over a year myself. Right away I could feel, from the people of St. Martin Lutheran Church, that they extended themselves in outreach to the communities surrounding them and into the world. The impetus for our work is Christ Jesus and following his example that is found in Scripture. “
“The impetus is Christ Jesus and following his example that is found in Scripture.”
For Anderson, connection means many things. “It means relationships and a place to belong, with Jesus as the glue. It doesn’t mean we’re perfect, and it doesn’t mean our God-given gifts are the same,” she said. “Connection means not going it alone. It means being linked or bound together spiritually, physically and emotionally. It is grace. Connection is like a tapestry where we are woven together with Christ.”
Strands of that tapestry include the church’s youth. “Although we are a small rural congregation with very few children and youth, they participate in Sunday school, the children’s sermons, and Noisy Offerings,” Anderson said. “We work at connecting with our children and youth and, in turn, our children and youth work at connecting and serving others.”
