What happens when you have an extra Sunday in the month?  Do you do the same worship as any other Sunday?  Celebration United Methodist Church in Brandon, South Dakota worships by leaving the sanctuary and serving others in and around the community.  Compassion Sunday is the worship on the fifth Sunday.  The most recent Compassion Sunday was August 30th.  Photo: A group of Brandon Celebration UMC members gather in prayer as they work on a project.  Photo courtesy of Celebration UMC Facebook page.

How it works

Celebration United Methodist church was founded on the desire to reach out to the community with the love of Christ.  Every month that has a fifth Sunday, the church reaches out in a big way. In lieu of the regular schedule of worship and Sunday school, people unite as a church to be the hands and feet of Christ in and around Brandon. 

The Sunday kicks off at 8:45 a.m. with words of encouragement and celebration and then folks hit the ground running at 9 a.m. There are multiple teams and project locations both in and outside of the church. 

As a Compassion Sunday gets closer, there are sign-ups posted in the church – you can sign up for your desired opportunity or just show up on Sunday morning and fill in where needed. The Sunday is concluded with a brief worship celebration at 11:30 and lunch to follow. People can come for the whole morning, or may only be present for part of the morning. 

Photo:  (Right) Children work on Blessing Bags as part of Compassion Sunday at Brandon Celebration UMC on August 30, 2015. Photo submitted by Brandon Celebration UMC.

Inspiring compassion

As people gathered on August 30th at Celebration, Rev. Joel Higgins, Celebration shared the story of Mother Teresa.  Agnes Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 to a prosperous Albanian who later fell into financial disparity. At the age of 12 she felt called to serve the poor. When she was eighteen, Bojaxhiu yearned to serve Jesus Christ in India.  When she was twenty-one, she took a new Christian name, Teresa, and she assumed vows of poverty. Teresa, who then became the head of her community of nuns, took the name Mother Teresa and lived and worked among the poorest people in India (and the world).  In 1979, in recognition of her work, she won the Nobel Peace Prize. 

After the message, people headed out to work in the community on various projects. The participants in Compassion Sunday, August 30, made freezer meals for the hospitality ministry, wrapped boxes for Shoebox Christmas, cleaned up branches and debris at a local residence, helped pump and pay for gas at local station, donated blood at the local blood bank, served at St. Francis House (shelter for homeless), packed and distributed lunches--Blessing Bags to the homeless, made activity books for children's hospitals across the country and packed school kits for UMCOR.

Photo: “For Compassion Sunday kids helped organize the Blessing Bags for our homeless outreach,” said Stacy Walters, volunteer, Celebration UMC.  “Each bag included socks, deodorant, soap, comb, toothbrush, Band-Aids, Chap Stick, and a snack bag.” Photo submitted by Brandon Celebration UMC.

The Blessings Bags are given out to people with a sack lunch. No chance to share God’s love was missed even the bananas where made as a special touch.

“The Blessings Bags are just a small part of Compassion Sunday,” said Pastor Joel Higgins. “I am grateful to all that worked hard so we could love well.”

Compassion Sunday has been part of worship at Brandon Celebration UMC for the past four years.  To learn more about the details contact Brandon Celebration UMC  by e-mail or visit the church's website.