Written by Kylie Akins
Upon the completion of Downtown Church of Christ’s new Family Life Center last spring, the church body chose to reexamine their focus inside and outside the building. The introspection led them to turn their attention away from their new annexation and out into the community mentioned in the church’s mission statement of being “outwardly focused.” From this realization came Downtown’s “Outside the Wall” Service Day, a Sunday in April set aside wholly for the purpose of service in the community.
The response for the first April event included nearly 600 volunteers working on about 13 projects and inspired Downtown’s leaders to make the service day a bi-annual event, designating a day in October as well.
Early Sunday morning on Oct. 25 after an abbreviated service, over 600 people went to work on about 25 projects across the community, located on Park St., Woodruff St., Pecan St., Elm St., Academy St. , Main St. and other areas of Searcy.
Many involved with “Outside the Walls” said they reflected on the importance of this event taking place on a Sunday during the usual time for morning church service. Downtown’s Body Life Minister, Tom Martin, said he believes words spoken inside a building mean nothing if there is inactivity outside of it.
“It’s very easy for churches to go into the church, pull up the drawbridge and feel very comfortable in their little castle, for lack of a better term, inside their walls,” Martin said. “And we firmly believe that Jesus expects us to be outside those walls, interacting with people and touching people’s lives wherever they are.”
The church body, according to many of the members present that day, is not bound to the church building.
“I think it’s beautiful,” Downtown member Alan Nesbitt said. “You can be outside and be serving or ministering to people. It doesn’t have anything to do with church as usual, and I think that gives people a new idea of what church is.”
Trading out songbooks for shovels was not a stretch for most participating in the service day. Downtown member Amelia Brister commented on how for her family this event was not a second thought. She said she believed the work they did that day would help people see a side of Christianity other than the Jesus of Christmas or paintings.
“[Christianity] is not just something that is just stuck up on a stain glass wall or in decorations,” Brister said. “It does make a difference in people’s lives. I think sometimes Christians have an idea of worship as one thing, but it’s really not. Worship can entail a lot of different things, and anything that is done in Jesus’ name is worship.”
The majority of the projects were provided by contacting the city’s code enforcement office about houses or lots in need of repair. Other projects were referred by neighbors or requested by the owners themselves to the city because of their own inability. Many owners were elderly, in poor health or financially unable to complete the project themselves.
The volunteers did various kinds of work, including trimming overgrown yards, clearing empty lots, boarding up vacant houses, tearing down two burnt out houses, making care packages, writing encouragement cards and participating in a prayer walk through the streets of the community.
Martin said the response from the property owners was overwhelming.
“The people would just look at us and ask, ‘Why are you doing this?’, and we were like, ‘We want to help.'” Martin said. “Some of them came out and helped us on their projects. So it was very encouraging. And especially the older folks and some that had health issues that couldn’t do it themselves, they were very thankful for us being there.”
Not only did the community reap the immediate benefits of physical help but Martin said he believes barriers are torn down every time people work with others in the neighborhoods.
“You start tearing down those barriers between communities and people and realize, we’re all God’s people,” Martin said. “We’ve both been blessed, maybe in different ways, but I have an opportunity to help you with something you need help with; and you can bless me by helping us or praying with us or inviting us back or becoming my friend.”
Downtown church members worked alongside other groups in Searcy, such as Covenant Church of Christ, St. Mary’s Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and Harding University students, including one of its social clubs, TNT.
Several more churches across the county have already contacted Downtown wanting to be a part of the next “Outside the Walls” in April, and Martin said he hopes to continue to see the project grow.
“I hope to see more churches and more people involved,” Martin said. “I would love to see it become a city-wide Sunday, and that on the last Sunday of April and October, people would see churches uniting in the name of Christ and out serving the community.”
