Several annual events late in each calendar year at Crittenden Drive Church of Christ are designed to help those in need locally and around the world.
The most visible locally happens Wednesday. The King sisters—Julie Davenport, Annelle White and Cathy Terry—are usually at the forefront in organizing this massive project.
Every Thanksgiving Eve, Crittenden Drive prepares a huge holiday meal to be shared with the community. Members from Crittenden Drive and Bethany churches of Christ not only cook the food but also take hundreds of boxes to homeless shelters, senior citizens apartments, low-income areas and whoever else has a need. The community is also invited to come have a sit-down feast with the congregation before the Wednesday evening Bible study. Usually around a thousand people are served either in the fellowship room or at other locations in Logan County.
The following message went out to those on the Crittenden Drive email list: “Wednesday, Nov 25, we will host our annual community Thanksgiving meal from 4:30 to 6:30 in the multipurpose room. Please help advertise and invite as many people as you can. We will also deliver meals for anyone requesting them. We will need vegetables, roll/bread and desserts to be brought that day by noon. We also need volunteers to help cook, serve, deliver and clean up. Please consider helping in any way you can. Sign-up sheets for jobs you are willing to do will be placed in foyer and hallway. If you know of a household in need of a delivered meal, please call the church office with their name, address, phone number and the number of people in the household. Please invite anyone you know who would like to participate in this time of fellowship. Please be praying about this wonderful outreach we are planning. Ask for God to lead you to help in a way that will most benefit those in need in our community.
“After our meal please stay and join us for service, as we will have different men from our congregation speaking.”
Kevin White is the deacon charged by elders Frank Dockins, Jim Riley, Russell Jones, Rob Sindorf and Brian White to oversee the church’s massive mission program.
2) Members plan ahead throughout the year for preparing hundreds of “Magi Boxes” to send for distribution internationally for those in need. Items to be packed into the boxes are brought to the church building for months before dedicated volunteers box them to go out to families in need of basic supplies and gifts for children. It is one of the most special projects the congregation participates in annually.
Dorothy Jackson and her daughter, Shirley Peters, have headed this outreach for several years.
3) Each November, all the contribution for a designated Sunday goes to the Mission Fund. One or more groups is designated to receive those funds. This year’s contribution went to Nashville Inner City Ministry, which provides a safe place for in-need, at-risk children and teens to learn about God and Christian behavior. Over 1,200 youngsters are now being cared for. Founded in 1979 by Lytle and Sandra Thomas of Green Hills Church of Christ, the ministry has seen the staff grow to 22, and a large building near the Cumberland River has been secured.
Lytle Thomas spoke at Crittenden Drive Nov. 1. The congregation’s youth minister, Daniel McCarley, assisted at the Inner City Ministry while he was interning in Nashville. Crittenden Drive donated over $11,000 to the mission effort on Nov. 15.
Crittenden Drive Church of Christ believes part of Christianity is sharing with others, and the congregation puts that belief into action often and in a big way.