community service
(Click here to read an article The Press Democrat did on our Easter Brunch 2009.)
SOMA's Vision for Community Service from SOMA Church Community on Vimeo.
Our vision for community service is explained by Pastor Paul Ortlinghaus in the above video created by Volunteer Now. SOMA won the award "Best Club/Outstanding Service Club Volunteer Award" from Volunteer Now and was recognized at an awards ceremony in October 2009.
Jesus encouraged all His followers to serve and love their neighbors. Jesus expected His disciples to serve food, heal the sick, take care of widows, and love the forgotten. Jesus even compared taking care of people on the fringe of society to taking care of Himself (Matthew 25:35-40). And Jesus knew what He was talking about because studies have shown that serving is the best way to lift depression and we have found that the happiest people are those who are serving others. And when you serve others with friends your friendships are strengthened.
There are many unique opportunities to serve at SOMA. We encourage everyone to serve both the local church community as well as the larger community of Sonoma County. If you like to clean, teach, bake, plan, or even shop we can find somewhere for you to serve.
Some of our previous SOMA Serve events have included: picking up trash at a local elementary school, washing windshields in downtown Santa Rosa, clearing hiking trails at a Regional Park, painting two foster children homes at The Children's Village, building fences for handicapped individuals, raised funds to build a well with fresh water for a village in Kenya and clearing poison oak at a Historical Cemetery.
Here are links to some of SOMA's past service projects. You can also see pictures of our two Easter Brunch projectes at our photo gallery.
2008 Easter Brunch for the homeless and 2009 Easter Brunch for the homeless
Rebuilding Together Santa Rosa and Spring Clean
(Click either the "Rebuilding.." or "Spring Clean" links above for a combinded slide show of the two events. The song is "Neverending" from the album Remedy, courtesy of The David Crowder Band.)
Rasing money to build a well through Kid's For The Kingdom/Advent Conspiracy
