Church group serving Maricopa with ‘no strings attached’

Maricopa’s Church of Celebration began in May 2006. Since that time it has gone from about 100 attendees to more than 350. Lead Pastor Josh Barrett attributes the growth to his church’s members having a “passion to serve.”

“Our people are genuine,” Barrett said, “and our goal is to live like Christ, and he was a servant to all people.”

There is no better example of that philosophy in action than Church of Celebration’s recently-created No Strings Attached (NSA) ministry. It was created with one simple goal in mind: “to serve people in the community with ‘no strings attached.'”

Most of NSA’s projects are secretive in nature, according to Mat Balgaard, a pastor in charge of outreach ministries. For example, the group sent Barrett and his wife, Ginger, to Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort in recognition of Pastor Appreciation Month in October. While the Barretts were gone, more than a dozen NSA members provided what Balgaard described as an “extreme backyard makeover.”

“They organized the completion of landscaping in our backyard,” Barrett said of the effort, to which the whole church contributed to financially. “It totally blew us away!”

The group also was instrumental in the production of the church-sponsored Trick or Treat event, which drew an estimated 4,000 people to the Fry’s Marketplace center Halloween night, and spent a Saturday in October picking up trash along State Route 347.

An amazing 55 people showed up to clean the mile-stretch of highway adopted by inmaricopa.com. “We had a blast!” Balgaard exclaimed.

“People from our church are so generous with their time, treasure and talents,” Balgaard said. “They are driven by the love of God to meet people’s needs. Even though we were only picking up garbage, which to some may seem insignificant, it shows the concern our people have for Maricopa. More than anything it shows their willingness to get involved in things that matter to Jesus. The people of Maricopa matter to Jesus…and that’s what NSA is all about.”

Barrett said it’s just the beginning for NSA and the response to its “pay it forward mentality” has been “amazing.” “The people of the church are responding and meeting people’s needs.”

Photos by Mandy Hank