There are many rewards and benefits when you join this ministry.
The beautiful Church of Our Saviour is our faith home. Over the years, several people have shared that the time spent in cleaning, allows a special connection to our Lord in prayer and service.
This is one of the easiest ways to get engaged with the activities of our parish. If you are new and want to start feeling like you fit in, this is a wonderful ministry to start in.
Our volunteers often have an opportunity to stop for a moment during cleaning to chat and get to know each other: this is very enriching. Also, during the breaks, there are opportunities to learn from each other, to exchange information, to network, and to be updated on what is happening in the parish – all done while keeping in mind the COVID related regulations.
This is a concrete way to give thanks for what God gives us in life. Cleaning God’s house with happiness, devotion, and dedication is probably the most practical way for expressing one’s gratitude.
Service to others: Fundamentally, this is a great way to help our community worship in a clean and safe environment, which is essentially a call to serve others; and we believe in loving, helping and supporting others as Jesus commanded.
Assists in controlling the financial costs. A thorough cleaning of the church takes about 40 hours. If we did not have a volunteer cleaning group, that’s about 40 hours that the parish would need to pay a company for doing this job every month. Thus, this ministry contributes to the savings of the Church of Our Saviour, the funds of which can be deployed for other community projects.
When do they come together: Volunteers gather around 09:00 AM on the last Saturday – unless stated differently in our Parish calendar or on the e-mail reminder sent out from the mailing group.
What is expected from the volunteer:
Here is a list of chores we try to accomplish:
– dust the floor
– clean the confessional
– vacuum pews
– remove chewing gum from the floors and the pews
– clean the Mary’s chapel at the back of the church
– clean the children room so that they can play in a safe and clean environment while one of the parents or both can join the Mass
– remove wax from the floors and candle holders
– clean the main altar
– dust the stations of the cross
– dust Saint Joseph altar and Mary’s statue
– clean entrances
– remove stains from glasses
– polish brass items
– mop the floor
– clean the sacristy
– dust and vacuum the baptismal font
– clean holy water fountains
– sort out cleaning tools and place them back
– etc.
We try to finish cleaning around 12:00 PM: we do what we can with the volunteers who are available, but there is no obligation to finish all the tasks mentioned above. So, for some months, if there are few people joining, what is left undone, we try to get done the next time. And regardless of the number of people, there is always a break around 10:00 AM: drinks, coffee, and something to eat is always provided. Over the years, we have found this a fantastic time to get to know other parishioners we might never meet otherwise.
How to get in touch if someone is interested (directly or via office)
Via the office at office@parish.nl or directly via churchcleaning@parish.nl.
