San Diegans Putting Faith into Action
Across the country, churches are closing their doors on Sunday mornings in order to serve their communities through a campaign called Faith in Action. Parishioners at Oak Hills Church in Vista recently took up this calling. Their motto:
At Oak Hills Church, April 15 was declared All-Church Faith-In-Action Sunday, and the entire congregation was called together by Pastor Kreig Gammelgard to worship, followed by some hard work for the community.In preparation for this event, representatives from Oak Hills first approached Angela Levinson, Weed and Seed Coordinator for the City of Vista. They decided to formally adopt the 2000 block of Thibodo Drive, an 
area consisting of approximately eighteen homes in an industrial park. When they learned that a typical Adopt-a-Block project involves cleaning up trash, weeding, and painting over graffiti, the people of Oak Hills Church decided that it wasn’t enough; they were going to do more.
Two weeks before the clean-up, volunteers walked the neighborhood, assessing the need for tools and supplies. A week before the clean-up, they sent out postcards to the neighborhood’s families, asking what the church could do to assist them.
On April 15, bringing trucks, weed whackers, safety gear, lawn mowers, ladders, cleaning supplies, and trash bags, the congregation and staff all converged upon Thibodo Drive, meeting at the sheriff substation. They set out to clean up the neighborhood, with adults and children, staff and parishioners all working side-by-side.
Volunteers went house-to-house, assisting families with other chores. 
When the work was done, Oak Hills Church even supplied lunch for the entire block!
What’s Next?
Now that the Thibodo clean-up is done, what’s next for Oak Hills Church? 
Pastor Kreig explained that this was not a one-time effort. They intend to take their mission to the streets on a quarterly basis, and they’ve already planned their next project. In June, the folks at Oak Hills will wash windows in a retirement park.
If you’d like to join Oak Hills Church’s future outreach efforts, you can contact 
Pastor Kreig Gammelgard or the Oak Hills church office at 1611 South Melrose Drive, Suite G, Vista, CA 92081 or call (760) 598-3852.
For more information on Vista’s Adopt-a-Block program, contact Angela Levinson at 760/726-1340, ext. 1482.
To learn more about Faith in Action or to find a program near you, see their website.
Thanks to James Wang for supplying the photos for this story.
2 Comments
Great story. This is what the church should be about – faith in action.
I agree with you, Donald. Wouldn’t the world be an amazing place if ALL of the churches, temples, synagogues, etc. were to put their resources toward helping their communities? If rather than talking about religion, the faithful quietly went about living it?
It’s so nice to be able to write about a church that’s providing such a good example, and to know that there’s a movement like “Faith in Action” spreading this message around the world.