{"id":27413,"date":"2026-06-30T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/?p=27413"},"modified":"2026-07-01T04:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T04:17:11","slug":"service-projects-in-fort-wayne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/service-projects-in-fort-wayne\/","title":{"rendered":"Service projects take Conferencegoers out into the Fort Wayne community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Frank Ramirez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were many programs available for Annual Conference attendees as part of Tuesday morning\u2019s \u201cImagine! A Morning of Sparking, Stirring, and Serving.\u201d One of the most natural for Brethren was service projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Promenade Park, volunteers helped clean up the popular public attraction with its winding paths and dense foliage, coupled with wide open spaces. Among those who helped pick up trash, Jasmine Brown and Rachel Gross worked together with a purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love to pick up trash,\u201d said Brown, of Lafayette (Ind.) Church of the Brethren. Gross, of North Manchester, Ind., admitted, \u201cI often go through the landfill to see what I can recycle.\u201d Holding up a red washcloth that looked brand new, she smiled and said, \u201cWe\u2019re taking this wash rag home, wash it, and repurpose it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom and Ann Brown, also of Lafayette, were working together with Gabe and Pam Dodd of Hagerstown, Md., down by the riverside where it was cooler in the midst of a muggy day. Tom Brown walked up with several pieces of garbage in his gloved hand, including a crumbled cigarette, and said, \u201cDon\u2019t forget to mention, \u2018No ifs, ands, or butts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not far away, around 12 Brethren were volunteering at Clothes for Joes, an organization that provides free assistance to veterans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel great,\u201d Mary Schoonover of Boones Mill, Va., for whom Tuesday is the day she normally volunteers at home. \u201cI\u2019m usually at a food bank loading boxes for people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same with Cady Laycook of Long Beach, Calif. \u201cI\u2019m just continuing what I\u2019m doing at home with my home congregation. This is just an extension of that. As I like to say, servanthood is my identity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Frank Ramirez is a member of the Annual Conference Press Team.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos by Joel Brumbaugh-Cayford<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There were many programs available for Annual Conference attendees as part of Tuesday morning\u2019s \u201cImagine! A Morning of Sparking, Stirring, and Serving.\u201d One of the most natural for Brethren was service projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1703],"tags":[1258,3482,3824,2195],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-27413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-of-the-brethren-newsline","tag-annual-conference","tag-annual-conference-2026","tag-service-projects","tag-service"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27413"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27419,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27413\/revisions\/27419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27413"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=27413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}