A Congregation Practicing Random Acts of Kindness

by Judith
(Minnesota, USA)

Several years ago the leadership of our church in Minnesota began a congregation-wide initiative to practice random acts of kindness on a regular basis.




People were encouraged in our Pastor's sermons
with examples of how simple a random act of kindness could be and how great the rewards are for both giver and receiver.

We were then asked to share stories of these experiences during Sunday morning services which, in turn, inspired even more acts of kindness as we got ideas from each other.

Then we added some shared "acts of kindness" efforts that could not be done by one person alone.

Some of those things have been: painting a house for a low income family, doing child care for a woman who was hospitalized for several weeks, handing out bottles of water to runners who were doing a Tri-athalon in the neighborhood where our church is, and volunteering at an organization called Feed My Starving Children that supplies food for children in many countries.

I would say that we have received more than we have given and will want to continue to be aware of all the times in both our personal lives, and our life together as a community, how much a small act of kindness can make a difference for someone else.