Those handy with hammers — or not — can team up with a group of volunteers affiliated with Christ Church in Lake Forest and help winterize some homes for the elderly this month or join an entirely different project next month.
Called HOGS, an acronym for Hands of God Serving, the team of 40 or so spends about four hours on the third Saturday of every month performing what it calls “practical acts of service” for those in need in the community. No special skills are required. The group will depart from the church Saturday at 8 a.m. to assist some church members and a family who recently moved into a home in North Chicago made possible by the Fuller Center for Housing, a non-profit housing ministry in Waukegan.
Church member Philip Manley, a builder, founded the ministry in 2010 and says volunteers contribute expertise or, simply, time.
“The message is to get involved and tap into whatever your giftedness is,” Manley said.
HOGS was inspired after a church mission trip to Acuna, Mexico, in which Manley and his son, then in high school, were part of the Christ Church Senior High Youth Group that built three homes in a week.
More Top Picks Dyslexia Laws By State What Your School Must Provide
“It was a very spiritually moving experience for me,” Manley said. “I had been a member of Christ Church for a long time, but I wasn’t fully invested. My son had gone on the mission trip as a freshman and when he got back did not stop talking about it. He told me they needed me, so I agreed to go in his sophomore year.”
The youth pastor warned Manley that he would feel “a big letdown” upon his return.
“You’re on such an emotional high because you’re removed from Lake Forest and in a foreign country with a group of people 24/7 and you’re fully engaged,” he said. “It was hard work, but it was an incredible feeling to be working with these amazing high school kids and being representatives of Christ Church and stewards of Christ, helping people who have very little. After that week, I found myself trying to figure out how I could recapture some of that. It took awhile for the light to go on (and to come up with the idea for HOGS).”
The a-ha moment came when a church member told Manley about a single mom who had recently had back surgery and was having issues with her apartment and a recalcitrant landlord unwilling to make repairs. Manley and others helped her with several projects.
“That evening it came to me,” he said. “Why not get a group of people together who would meet once a month and help people with physical or financial challenges. That was the beginning.”
Manley jokes that HOGS is not exactly a well-oiled machine, “but it’s getting there.” An administrative meeting every two weeks pinpoints needs for the coming month and the skill sets required for different projects. Recruiting new members is ongoing. Team members are not required to be a part of Christ Church congregations in Lake Forest or Highland Park.
As it has grown, HOGS has tackled more ambitious projects, including the build-out of Changing Closets Resale Shop in North Chicago as well as the installation of a new kitchen in the Waukegan office of Love INC (Love in the Name of Christ), which is a ministry partner of Christ Church.
For more information about volunteering services or donating appliances, tools or other items, see the church website at christchurchil.org.