30000 Lutherans blanket Detroit to volunteer, worship - USA TODAY
DETROIT — As the sun beat down at Spirit of Hope Church in Detroit, Jeremy Smith, 16, sliced through a long tree branch in an alleyway near the house of worship. He was helping clear brush on Thursday, one of about 30,000 people in Detroit this week for a youth gathering of the biggest Lutheran group in the U. S. , Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "It feels good to get out and help the community, help people," Smith said during a break. Smith and about 10,000 other Lutherans worked across metro Detroit on Thursday in service projects that helped the needy. Wearing orange-colored shirts, the Lutherans have been a big presence in downtown Detroit this week, holding nightly gatherings at Ford Field. At Spirit of Hope Church, a part Lutheran, part Episcopal church, volunteers from Iowa and California spent six hours cutting brush, hauling away used tires, and wheeling away debris. "The ELCA has a phrase, God's work, Our Hands, and this is the embodiment of that phrase," said Jimmy Sanborn, 17, of Fresno. Sanborn, who had a small wooden cross hanging from his neck, said the Ford Field services help in maintaining his beliefs. Source: www.usatoday.com
