Service at ORPC

You don’t have to go far to find ORPC’s culture of service present. In fact, you don’t even need to leave our church campus! There are a variety of kinds of service — whether that is for our congregation or for partnering nonprofits — that our congregation values. God calls us to serve, and we must answer this call.

Community Garden

Weekly gatherings depending on the season, Back garden

The ORPC Community Garden began in 2015 to help provide fresh produce to families and individuals who are food insecure through local non-profit organizations, such as Share the Harvest and Out of the Garden. The garden has 530 square feet of raised beds for planting and, thanks to a recent Eagle Scout project, there is now a garden shed to store our tools and supplies. We donate over 400 pounds of produce each year. We plant a mixture of flowers (for pollinators) and food. Beginning in March and continuing through October, we prepare beds for planting, sow seeds, pull weeds, and gather the goodness that grows. People of all ages help plant and harvest everything we grow. We have 1-2 weekly garden workdays (or evenings) depending on what’s in season. It’s a great way to connect with each other- we grow food and friendships at the same time.

Please contact Nancy Stoudemire with questions or to volunteer!

Knitwits

First & Fourth Tuesdays of every month, 10am, Fellowship House

In 2018, our Women of Wisdom Circle (WOW) started a group called the Knitwits for those who knit and/or crochet. The knitwits create Prayer Shawls and Prayer Lap Blankets to be given to community friends, families, and church members during tough times, illnesses, surgeries,or after the death of a loved one. Knitwits bless each shawl or blanket and attach a prayer to each. One common recipient of the Knitwits’ shawls and blankets has been the freestanding hospice centers in the area.

Please contact Diane Grimes with questions or to volunteer!

Learn more here >>

Building & Grounds

As Needed, Around Campus

ORPC has an active and service-forward building and grounds team. This group of individuals — who come from a variety of professional backgrounds — help with the maintenance and preservation of ORPC’s property. This includes both internal and external matters. Our building and grounds team is always looking for more volunteers seeking to help our physical ministry space support our spiritual ministry goals.

Please contact Steve St. Cyr with questions or to volunteer!

Usher at ORPC

Sundays, 10am, Sanctuary

There are a variety of ways you can serve in worship. ORPC uses ley-leaders as liturgists and ordained members as communion servers, but the most frequent opportunity for worship leadership is to serve as an usher. If you’d like to serve as an usher, you can sign up for a week here.

Please contact Stuart Mease with questions or to volunteer!

SOUPer Bowl of Caring

Super Bowl Sunday, After Worship in the Sanctuary

Every Super Bowl Sunday, the youth of the church auction off hand-painted soup bowls after the congregational annual meeting. The auction takes place during a pot-luck-style lunch where the congregation is encouraged to bring a soup, salad, or bread to share. The youth of the church sell individually wrapped baked goods. Both the proceeds from the baked goods and the soup bowl auction go to a local hunger initiative chosen annually by the youth. This year, the youth chose to support Backpack Beginnings in Greensboro. Backpack Beginnings’ mission is to deliver child-centric services to feed, comfort and clothe children in need. They serve over 21,000 children annually, aiming to create a community of healthy and well-nurtured children. ORPC also partnered with Backpack Beginnings as a part of our New Year New Service worship on New Year’s Day.

Please contact our Director of Youth and Children’s Ministries, Chris Morgan, with any questions to get involved!

Rise Against Hunger

October 14th,

RISE against Hunger packages millions of nutritious meals annually to distribute to partners in countries around the world. Through monitoring and evaluation, RISE ensures that the meals distributed by those partners are used to change lives by promoting education, improving students’ health and nutrition, addressing gender inequalities, stimulating economic growth, and fighting child labor.

ORPC has worked with Moravia Moravian Church and Oak Ridge Military Academy to fund and host a meal packaging event here in Oak Ridge.

If you have interest in getting involved or want more information, contact Dan Bowles

Day of Service

October 29, After Church, Picnic Lunch on Lawn

THE.....Annual Day of Service at Oak Ridge Presbyterian...possibly the most amazing, fun, compassionate, new friend-making, hardworking and fulfilling time in the life of ORPC’s Mission events!

Every March, our mission committee meets and selects sites-of-service — some new programs, some age specific, and some intergenerational. We also bring back some oldies-but-goodies, such as working in ORPC’s community garden. With such a variety, everyone is bound to find something they would like to learn about and how they can help our community.

There are other ways to participate in the Day of Service too, such as purchasing one of our annual T-shirts and wearing it proudly wherever you go! The sales proceeds are divided equally among the Day of Service recipients and sent to them as a donation. Another way to participate is to pray! Pray that ORPC can make a positive difference in someone’s life that day, be it big or small.

If you have interest in getting involved or want more information, contact Brooke Beam or Mia Malesovas.