Koinonia NYC offers hands-on
Servant Events this summer

Koinonia NYC, a partner at the LDRNY Comfort & Renew Center in Manhattan, has been sponsoring Servant Events this summer. This tailor-made week-long program combines service, recreation, reflection and worship, and has proven to be fun for groups of all ages and sizes. By the end of the summer, Koinonia NYC will have hosted six groups from congregations in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Texas.

These events offer a hands-on opportunity to learn about building community by serving others as we live out God’s calling. The events usually take place in New York City and at Koinonia’s Highland Lake location in upstate New York.

Four women and eight girls from Mt. Zion Lutheran Church in Conover, North Carolina, recently conquered the weeds and the summer heat to build a greenhouse in the back yard of Lutheran Social Service’s Our Sister’s Place in Brooklyn. Prior to arriving in New York, the group had researched which plants would grow best in the city climate. Once the greenhouse was constructed, the group worked with the residents of Our Sister’s Place to begin planting. This new addition to the facility will continue to bring the message of life among the mothers and children as they care for the plants for years to come.

Other service projects to be completed this summer by Koinonia NYC Servant Events will include: working in food ministries at Trinity, Lower East Side, Manhattan; Saint Peter’s, Manhattan; and Epiphany, the Bronx. Groups will also complete cleanup and painting projects at Bethlehem, Brooklyn; Trinity, 100th Street, Manhattan; and the Bergen Street LSS residence.

Besides service and sight-seeing, all groups have participated in the Koinonia NYC “Faith Walk” at Ground Zero. One participant indicated her most meaningful experience was, “Going to St. Paul’s Chapel near Ground Zero and reading the poems and letters on the memorial wall.”

The group from United Lutheran Church, Prairie Farm, Wisconsin, raised money for they Servant Event trip by designing and leading a musical worship service at local churches in Wisconsin. While visiting St. Paul’s Chapel near Ground Zero, the group offered the gift of music and sang several songs to visitors in the chapel.

For more information about Koinonia NYC Servant Events, please contact Pr. Ann Tiemeyer, Koinonia NYC Director at 212-669-6130 or KoinoniaNYC@yahoo.com.