Are you looking for a place to serve at Calvary Lutheran Church?

Serve

Serve at Calvary and in the community.

Make a difference in the world that God made by volunteering at any time. We have opportunities for you to join us in service in-person and on-campus throughout the week (while doing so safely under Covid-19 restrictions). You can also serve the church and community online on the weekend and throughout the week. We are able to offer you one-on-one coaching or small group training, while adhering to safe physical distancing guidelines of online via video conferencing.

God's Work, Our Hands. April 20-23, 2024.

Please check out the various ways you may serve!

One area of focus for our Mission Outreach ministry is Food Insecurity. Check out these videos showing our Calvary Cares Food Drive Program and making Sack Lunches for those in need.

Take a look at Calvary's ongoing Community Outreach & Join us in serving San Diego's North County - YouTube

CLC Solana Beach | Calvary Cares food drive - YouTube

CLC Solana Beach | God's Work. Our Hands. Sack Lunches outreach. - YouTube

Thank You, Calvary!

We loved our neighbors boldly on Love Your Neighbor Sunday by hosting a blood drive and making sack lunches for Interfaith.

Twenty-eight donors gave blood and the Red Cross thanked us warmly for achieving 144% of our expected turnout. Enough blood was donated to save the lives of up to 81 individuals. BRAVO to all who gave this vital gift to our community!

We made 525 Sack Lunches for Interfaith! Sixth-three Calvary members and friends enjoyed the cheerful camaraderie of working together for a good cause. We decorated lunch sacks, made sandwiches, worked the assembly line and cleaned up, all in a little over an hour. WOW!

Food insecurity and hunger are real for some in our community. Interfaith was so grateful when we arrived with two SUVs completely filled with sack lunches. Thank you all!

Help Our Neighbors Facing Food Insecurity

Recently, the San Diego Union-Tribune published an article detailing how food pantries in San Diego are struggling to meet the increase in local residents needing food assistance.

You can help! Calvary Cares is collecting donations for a food distribution at the end of the month to families from our local elementary school. Our goal is to help 25 families. Each family will receive approximately $150 worth of groceries.

How can you help?

Make a monetary donation to Calvary Cares either by check or cash or go online to https://calvarylutheranchurch.org/give/ and click on the Give Now button. Be sure to indicate your donation is for Calvary Cares. Consider sponsoring a full or half “grocery cart.”
Go shopping and pick up food items. Check with Marybeth Norgren as to what is needed. Costco shoppers are especially needed.
Divide up large bags of rice, beans, and pasta to give to individual families.
Volunteer to sort food on Saturday, January 27, from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Help with the distribution of food to families in our downstairs parking lot on Tuesday, February 6 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Sorting Through Your Books for the New Year?

Please consider donating your gently used books, especially for children and teens, to Calvary’s Little Free Library. Nonfiction and fiction are both good. Before you donate, please make sure your book is in good condition and is a title that would be of interest to the general public. Drop off your donations at the office during the week or with a member of the Mission Outreach team on Sunday. We rotate in new selections as needed. Contact Teresa if you have questions.

Ongoing

Volunteering at TACO

Prayer Shawl Ministry and Quilting for Uplifting

Helping Afghan Refugees: Download information about local efforts here.

Helping Ukrainians: Lutheran Disaster Response is accompanying our companion churches in Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, as well as such ecumenical partners as the Lutheran World Federation and Church World Service, in their humanitarian responses to the crisis. These partners provide refugees with immediate support and supplies such as food, blankets, water and hygiene kits. For more information, go to: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca.org).

Church Community World Resources on Serving ELCA Advocacy

Church

Join a ministry team:

Children, Youth & Family Ministry: this team of youth and adults mobilizes people and families for spiritual growth, community, and service through age-specific ministries.
Faith Formation Ministry: teach classes or facilitate small group ministry
Lay Care Ministry: visit those who are homebound or in recovery from an illness or surgery
Parish Nurse Ministry: provides education, including CPR; health counseling, patient advocacy, help with referrals, a health screening team, emergency response team, and facilitates the development of support groups. This ministry seeks to promote understanding of the relationship between faith and help.
Prayer Shawl Ministry: learn how to knit prayer shawls and blankets to give to those in need of comfort and prayer
Worship Ministry: participate in worship services by becoming an usher, a reader, a sound board operator, an acolyte, or part of the altar preparations team
Welcome Ministry: work with others to make sure our campus and organization are a welcoming community to all
Music Ministry: modern instrumental and vocal ensemble group, women's choir, soloists, create a group
Mission Outreach Ministry: coordinates service in and with our local and global communities.

For information email Teresa.

All materials, a script, and the station manual will be provided.

Volunteer today!

Community

Serve our Community:

Calvary Cares: Helping to supply food to families whose children attend local Solana Beach elementary schools. Distribution events are held in January, April and September. Signups for volunteers are announced several weeks before each event. Click here for a suggested list of food items to donate. Food donations should be placed in the Mission Outreach office. Monetary donations may be made using the Give Now button on the home page and selecting Calvary Cares. Contact Marybeth Norgren with any questions and if you would be willing to shop for food.
Showers of Blessings: A mobile shower unit serving those in need by meeting one of life's most basic human dignities: cleanliness. The unit operates on a weekly basis at various churches throughout San Diego. Volunteer hosts are welcome and needed. Sign up today!
TACO: This ministry helps feed and serve the homeless at Third Avenue Charitable Organization, serving meals to anyone in need. We provide 10 volunteers on the 4th Monday of each month. The time commitment is from 3:15-5:15pm. Find upcoming dates and sign up through our SignUpGenius link. Contact Marybeth Norgren if you have questions about serving or if you would like to carpool with another volunteer.
Creation Care: Advocate for the environment based on our joint faith. See what the ELCA says about caring for creation.

World

ELCA Good Gifts https://goodgifts.elca.org/
Lutheran Border Concerns Ministry http://lutheranborderconcernsministry/org
Lutheran Disaster Response
ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission
Quilting Ministry

Forty-five Quilts Delivered to Lutheran World Relief!

In October, 45 quilts were delivered to Grace Lutheran Church, Escondido for transport to the LWR warehouse in Minneapolis, MN. In addition, a donation of $101.25 was given to LWR to cover transportation costs of sending the quilts at $2.25/quilt to destinations around the world. These quilts can be used as warm bedding, simple tents or floor coverings. Each one reflects God's loving presence in a world rife with suffering. Thank you to all of those who helped cut squares, sew pieces together and tie the quilts – you are making a difference to those in need across the globe!

Resources on Serving

ELCA Explanation of “Serve all people following the example of Jesus,” is part of the Five Gifts of Baptism resources.

DoingGoodTogether.com is a website with ideas to encourage families to serve.

Children's books:

Maybe I Can Love My Neighbor Too by Jennifer Grant is a storybook about showing kindness to our neighbors. Also “I Can Love My Neighbor” Bingo card based on the storybook.

The Ministry of Ordinary Places: Waking Up to God's Goodness Around You by Shannon Martin is a book about paying attention to those around us and discerning God’s call right where we are.

Mine! A Counting Book about Sharing by Caryn Rivadeneira is for children 3 and under. It teaches counting while at the same time develops the concepts of yours, mine, and sharing with others. Part of the Generous Kids books developed in a partnership between Beaming Books and Thrivent.

NEW! It’s Not Fair! A Book About Having Enough by Caryn Rivadeneira is for children age 4-6. Part of the Generous Kids series, this book teaches about money, choices, and generosity.

ELCA Advocacy

As members of the ELCA, we believe that we are freed in Christ to serve and love our neighbor. God uses our hands, through our direct service work and our voices, through our advocacy efforts, to restore and reconcile our world. Through faithful advocacy, the ELCA lives out our Lutheran belief that governments can help advance the common good.

ELCA advocacy works for change in public policy based on the experience of Lutheran ministries, programs and projects around the world and in communities across the United States. We work through political channels on behalf of the following biblical values: peacemaking, hospitality to strangers, care for creation, and concern for people living in poverty and struggling with hunger and disease.