Church leads by example

MONROE – Cascade Community Church is a busy place where people come and go every day and where about 1,500 people worship on Sundays.

But the church shuts down a few times each year.

The reason: The church sends its staff to volunteer at local schools.

Pastors often talk about the importance of helping others in the community. That’s good, but not enough, said Brad Moore, the church’s community care pastor.

“We just said, ‘We need to lead by example,’ ” he said.

Pastors, employees and church members help students in class and assist teachers with their administrative work and chores.

The church started sending people to local schools last year, Moore said. Church staff wants to show others how they can serve their community.

“Everybody wants to make a difference,” Moore said.

Earlier this month, the church was closed for about an hour. About 10 people from the church volunteered at Fryelands Elementary School; several others headed to Chain Lake Elementary School.

Inside Fryelands Elementary School, the volunteers were assigned to tasks such as reading to students and helping a teacher prepare for an upcoming concert.

Five of them were ushered into a kindergarten class.

It’s good for the 22 students in the class to interact with different adults, said Traci Adams, the class’ teacher.

“It’s about making a connection with the community,” Adams said.

Nate Hettinga, the church’s lead pastor, knelt down on the floor and helped the students write down their names and create charts on papers.

That helped him slow down and put things in perspective, Hettinga said.

“I’m getting fulfillment from just being around them,” he said.

Ron Simmons, a pastor from Monroe Faith Center, also pitched in and stacked blocks with students.

Moore said that interacting with children outside the church helps him understand their needs, he said.

“There’s a ton of kids here,” Moore said. “The church wants to be relevant to those children.”

An hour passed in the classroom. The digital clock on the wall read 2 p.m. It was time for the volunteers to leave.

“What can we say to them for helping?” Adams said.

“Thank you,” students said in unison.