RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Guided by a mission to serve others, Rancho Murieta Community Church hosted a Serve Day on Oct. 26 for its church family to reach out to Rancho Murieta and other nearby communities. More than 230 people participated in the day of service, which offered a variety of hands-on ways to share encouragement and help those in need.

“Our Serve Day is a tangible expression of Christ’s love shared with our friends and neighbors,” said

Phil Fuller, lead pastor of Rancho Murieta Community Church. “We are called to put God first, others second and ourselves third. That is what this Serve Day – and every day – is about at RMCC: loving God, loving others and showing His love in meaningful ways.”

RMCC Serve Day participants ranged from children and teens to young adults, families and seniors. Local projects included yard maintenance and leaf cleanup for residents of the Rancho Murieta Village senior community; trail maintenance and bench building in partnership with the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; writing 189 thank you and encouragement cards; and leading a community-wide prayer walk.

Beyond the immediate local area, Serve Day teams supported xHope Mission, an Elk Grove-based organization that provides relief and resources to foster and underprivileged youth. Another team joined the American Arab Learning Center in Sacramento for maintenance and improvement projects before sharing in an intercultural worship experience.

“The Serve Day was designed to give everyone a chance to serve,” Fuller said. “Our desire is to be a blessing, and we believe that from our kids to our seniors, everyone can play a part in sharing God’s goodness and grace.”

Participants also created personalized projects to meet specific needs, such as helping a widow with property work, cleaning an elderly neighbor’s home and providing a meal to thank local firefighters and first responders. An estimated 600 service hours were dedicated throughout the day via the various projects.

Serve Day comes as Rancho Murieta Community Church prepares to return to its remodeled church building. For the past several months, the congregation has met outdoors in a tent known as “The Tab” while construction was underway. The renovation – part of the church’s “Build Up to Reach Out” initiative – adds more space to receive people from throughout the River Valley and help them experience God’s love.

“We had simply outgrown our existing church building,” Fuller said. “Build Up to Reach Out was launched to expand our existing facilities and make better use of what God has given us. We’ve got to remember that this effort has never been about a building project; it’s about creating space to welcome our community and guide our friends and neighbors into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Rancho Murieta Community Church services will reopen indoors at 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. each Sunday, beginning in November, at 14670 Cantova Way and will also stream online at rmchurch.org. All are welcome.