This coming Sunday, more than 4,000 individuals will walk or run in one of six timed events sponsored by the Mercer Island Rotary Club. That means our community of some 22,000 residents will grow in one day to nearly 30,000 if you include those on hand to cheer on the participants. That’s remarkable! And the cause is a worthy one: To raise money to help find a cure for colon cancer.
Rotary’s motto is “service above self.” This annual race is a tangible means by which Rotarians do exactly that. Most of the 150 members of Mercer Island Rotary will serve in some capacity to pull off this amazing race. They will set up booths, register participants, assist in traffic flow and parking, coordinate timing procedures, hand out race shirts, provide water, snacks and marshalling on the course, govern spectator protocol, clean up litter and countless other tasks.
In addition, local businesses, organizations and city government will cooperate to make sure that race day is a great day. Food and beverages are being donated, as are parking spaces and manpower.
Because the race is always on a Sunday morning, Rotarians who are part of Mercer Island faith communities sacrifice their routine of worship to contribute time and energy in the half marathon effort. But you won’t hear the faithful complain. “Service above self” is a core value that drew them to become Rotarians in the first place.
As a pastor I’m faced with a dilemma, however. I’m a Rotarian, but my day job on Sundays keeps me from fulfilling my half marathon responsibilities. But a couple of months ago, I decided to float an idea with my congregation. What if we canceled Sunday morning worship services and encouraged our people to fully embrace the half marathon instead of doing church as usual? What if we actively persuaded members to walk, run or volunteer in order to put community support above Sunday services?
I was pleasantly surprised at the response. The members of Mercer Island Covenant Church saw this as a chance to put “feet to our faith.”
More than 100 of our members have registered to walk or run. Almost 200 have found a way to participate as a race day volunteer or as a member of a cheer squad.
Before you brand me a heretic, you need to know I will still preach this coming Sunday. The leadership of our congregation determined we should have a service later in the day. The result will be a “High Five” celebration to be held at the church (complete with a hot dog dinner) at 5 p.m. Race organizers and participants will be recognized in the context of a family-friendly worship experience.
As I’ve pondered the way that Rotarians, the community-at-large and our local church have joined hands to pull off a successful fundraising race, I can’t help but wonder what might take place if Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and Jews in our community pulled together and put “service above self.” That’s what the Mercer Island Clergy Association is all about. We did it successfully with Tent City 18 months ago. Could we do something equally as meaningful and caring for our environment or our elderly? Could we redefine the drug and alcohol culture of community? Why not?
The race is on!
Greg Asimakoupoulos is the pastor of the Mercer Island Covenant Church.
