Community Cares Program
Community Christian Church launched their Community Cares program to help those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
Church staff and around 400 volunteers across their 11 locations, including Naperville, have stepped up to lend a hand. They expanded their existing Community 4:12 Outreach program to better tailor to people’s needs during COVID-19.
“There were some specific needs that became evident that we weren’t involved in at all. And so that’s when we said, ‘ok let’s build upon that with some of our existing partners and really sharpen our focus, especially for the next several weeks and months,’” said Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian Church.
11 teams were created to target each service including, collecting food donations for shelters like Hesed House, packing food boxes for food pantries, groups sewing masks and delivering them to Edward Hospital, and prayer teams.
Virtual Easter Services
The online prayer huddles have been key for community members and the church has had to rely on virtual services, including those for Easter.
“Even though I’m looking at a camera or I’m looking at an ‘X’ at the back of an empty room, I’m always thinking about a couple different people and how does this really apply to their life and how does this make a difference for them?” said Ferguson. “So that kind of helps and of course it’s Easter so if you cant get energy for Easter, you’ve got a problem.”
Community Christian church held four Easter services earlier today, and will be broadcasting two more tonight at 5 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.
Other local churches have also scheduled recorded or live services and masses including Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, and more.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.