Putting Faith in Action at Campbell High School

More than 500 volunteers from five Smyrna-Vinings churches joined forces Saturday to put their faith in action at .  Together members of , , , and First Priority Ministries cleaned, painted landscaped and repaired the campus.

“To me this is what Jesus would do,” said Barry Owen, First Baptist Church of Smyrna’s minister of discipleship and education. “I always say people vote with their feet. You can talk about Christianity and faith in action, but until you get out and do it, it’s just lip service.”

Chris Reutlinger from Cumberland Community Church spearheaded the effort. He said that each quarter the congregation forgoes a conventional Sunday service and volunteers in the community, an effort called Faith in Action. Twice a year these volunteer efforts include serving a community school.

“This is an opportunity to give back and serve the community in a way that actually makes a difference,” he said. “A lot of these public schools don’t have the same parent involvement that other public schools have or the private schools. So to come in and be a source of hope and inspiration and let them know that someone actually cares about this place is really what matters.”

Planning for Faith in Action began in November, Reutlinger said. He and other organizers asked Campbell’s faculty, staff and students what needed cleaning or repairing on campus. The project list was based on this input. This year volunteers touched up the mural in Tiger Hall as well as general interior and exterior painting, landscaped and built bookshelves and storage cabinets.

Angel Faison, a member of First Baptist Church of Smyrna, looked on as her husband Greg powerwashed the exterior wall of the auditorium.

“Our church did this at Osborne,” she said. “It’s fun and our son went to school here.”

In total the Faith in Action volunteers contributed about 1,500 man-hours worth of service to Campbell High School.