November 30, 2006

South Hills church members make it a ‘Beautiful Day’

By Julie Davis Berry
Executive Editor

The weekend of Nov. 17-19 was a busy one for members of 26 churches across the South Bay and many more throughout the state as they participated in the community outreach project “Beautiful Day.”

Volunteers from South Hills celebrate their efforts after renovating the teachers’ lounge and cleaning up the Life Lab gardens at Almaden Elementary School. Photo by Rick Dietzman

The “Beautiful Day” program is billed as “compassion unleashed,” which originated with a church group years ago in Arkansas but spread to California with the help of San Jose church pastor Jon Talbert of WestGate Church. Two years ago, Talbert invited other churches throughout California to join the campaign.

At Almaden’s South Hills Community Church, hundreds of participants volunteered to work on dozens of projects to impact their nearby communities.

They went to several local schools and spruced up teachers’ break rooms, added storage, planted flowers and shrubs, tilled neglected life-science labs and spread redwood bark throughout the gardens. The schools benefiting from South Hills’ efforts were Pine Hill School, Almaden Elementary and Simonds Elementary.

Before and after photos of the teacher’s lounge at Almaden Elementary School. Photo by Rick Dietzman

Volunteers also delivered Thanksgiving dinners to families in the Via Monte/Hoffman area and worked on a food closet, held a blood drive and also held a grief seminar for those dealing with the sadness of losing a loved one at the holidays.

South Hills Senior Pastor Justin Dennison was excited to participate in the project because he said too often church people have been depicted as delivering bad news, and being negative and critical of others.

“Jesus said to preach good news and so, as followers of Jesus, members of South Hills Community Church, we want to be known as "good news" people—to be a positive influence and to make a constructive contribution to our community,” said Dennison. “That is why we were part of ‘Beautiful Day’ by helping schools, encouraging teachers, our food bank, giving clothes and food to the people at Via Monte, and supporting the bereaved. As followers of Jesus there is obviously a spiritual dimension to our faith, but Jesus spoke clearly about a social dimension as well.”

At Almaden Elementary School, volunteers created gift boxes for teachers with gift cards from Starbucks, Jamba Juice and Target. They also renovated the teachers’ break room and tilled the life lab (garden) much to the student’s surprise. Principal Miguel Montes was visibly touched by the volunteers’ efforts as he said in a video made for the church, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful work and the gifts you have given us. My school will be appreciating your efforts your decades to come. You have made quite an impression on us.”

The Junior High Group worked on an Adopt-a-Family project. Photo by Rick Dietzman

Pastor Dennison shared his own story at the grief seminar. “My father died last year and my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, so it has been quite a tough year,” he said. “I shared at the grief seminar some of my own experiences and struggles, and how I was helped and supported to make it through. Hopefully that connected with people who are now facing similar challenges."

The weekend culminated with a Sunday evening celebration at Church on the Hill attended by volunteers and city officials. Mayor-elect Chuck Reed thanked the group for their “prayers on Nov. 7!” He went on to say that he felt the good works of local churches has been under-recognized. “I want to increase the power of service and giving in our community,” said Reed, “And the ‘Beautiful Day’ project is just one example of how churches can positively impact the community.”