Harrison church skips Sunday worship service to 'serve' others in community

HARRISON, Ohio - A Harrison church skipped its Sunday worship service to put its congregation's desire to serve the community into action.

Almost 80 percent of the typical group of worshippers at the Legacy Christian Church in Harrison opted to worship this Sunday by helping others in and around the Harrison area.

Legacy Christian’s “Wired to Serve” event asked young people in the congregation and the community to clear away leaves, cut overhanging branches and remove debris from the yards of people in need of assistance.

"I'm just doing this to help out my friend," 15-year-old Caitlin Havlin said. "[My friend] normally comes here to the community all the time. She goes to church here. I just thought I'd help out. She just wanted me to come, so I thought I'd help out."

One of the people the Legacy Christian youth group helped is a member of the church who needed help clearing debris from the backyard of her house, which is next door to the church.

Lisa Campbell is a single mother with two children who could still see the effects of an intense windstorm that hit the Tri-State three years ago until the members of her church came to her aid.

"There were three trees that fell into our yard," Campbell said. "There were a lot of people coming over and cutting the wood down. They knocked our fence down. We had to get a new fence. The lady next door had to get a new fence. It scattered our shed. We no longer have a shed."

Young people like Havlin and Mark Acra, 15, were two of the numerous young people who decided to lend a hand to Campbell and various other people in the Harrison community.

"It feels great," said Acra, 15. "I mean we can help out these people and make their lives a little better and give them more free time to do stuff. It just feels awesome to help people."

That sentiment was shared by his twin brother, Eric Acra, who also participated in the community event

Legacy Christian's pastor, Mark Garrett, says he's proud to see so many worshippers taking the time to help others. Some of the church members made meals for Harrison police officers and firefighters. Other volunteers took flowers to area nursing homes, while another group helped pay the cost of gas for some motorists.

"We want this to be more than just a day experience," Pastor Garrett said. "We're after it being a lifestyle. A lifestyle service that to me, makes the biggest difference in our lives."

After seeing how pleased many church members were with the “Wired to Serve” event, Garret is sure this type of event is something his church will do more often.