SERVE Saturday
What is God calling you to do?
Our church exists to develop missionaries who will share the love of Christ with our community and beyond. This statement is more than words for us. It’s why we’re here, and we want to invite each of you to be a part of sharing the love of Christ by serving our community.
Our hearts break for the brokenness we see in our cities, and God has placed us here to make Him known and make things right. True compassion is a movement of our hearts that results in an action of our hands, and we want our world to see Christ through our compassion.
There are many opportunities to volunteer inside and outside our church walls. Ask God what He would have you do and take the next step. We are excited and waiting with anticipation to see what God is going to do through you as we work together to share the love of Christ. Don’t hesitate to call us (941-722-7795) if you have questions, we’re here to help.
2026 dates: November 14.
2027 dates: February 20, April 24, and November 13
We meet in the gym at 7:30am on SERVE Saturday
Highlights
Recap of SERVE Saturday for May 9, 2026
Thank you to all our volunteers and leaders for another successful SERVE campaign with over 150 volunteers and 14 projects. Here are some of the highlights:
Feeding Empty Little Tummies – Clean food bins and pack food items for the children.
Neighbors Needing Help – We had five families that were served in our community with yard work, light construction, mulching and planting.
FBC Palmetto Building & Grounds – We had a team of dedicated individuals working on restoring the children’s train – which is used in our Wee World ministry.
Laundromat Ministry – The laundromat ministry continues to be a rich blessing with our Spanish-speaking volunteers feeding quarters into the washing machines and dryers while enjoying fellowship with the customers.
Suncoast Youth for Christ – Our Carpenters for Christ volunteers built a boardwalk along the pond at this youth center that is focused on mentoring our youth.
FBC Chair Cleaning – Let’s face it, chair cleaning is not the most glamorous task to volunteer for but we had over 10 volunteers with lint rollers, vacuum cleaners, and rags working throughout the building cleaning chairs and pews.
Prayer – Three gathered for prayer. Insights learned regarding prayer through the years were shared. We prayed aloud for each ministry of service being met on Serve Saturday. There was prayer also for our pastoral team, physical needs and burdens of our church body, and for people to respond to the Lord’s calling them into areas of ministry/service within our church body. It was a refreshing time of prayer.
Homeless Sleeping Mats – By far the most-attended project, we had over 50 volunteers working on cutting plastic bags for later creation of sleeping mats.
Neighborhood Outreach – We made “goodie bags” containing a Jesus DVD and instant popcorn and distributed them to over 250 neighbors in our immediate radius.
Recap of SERVE Saturday on November 8, 2025
The last SERVE Saturday of 2025 was held this weekend and we saw over 180 volunteers work on 18 different projects. Here is a recap:
Laundromat: The laundromat ministry was wonderful. We served many people and shared Christ with them. We had 10 fine team members.
Selah Freedom: We pressure washed the pool deck, trimmed all shrubs and palm trees, replaced three broken light fixtures and replaced two ceiling fans.
Il Villaggio: There were 11 of us at Il Villagio. The energetic team cleaned the exterior windows of 22 duplex units. We received many gracious and sincere expressions of appreciation from the residents.
Palmetto Elementary School: The Palmetto Elementary project was a success! We filled over 80 bags with stickers, notepads, reusable cups, apple cider mix, and Starbucks gift cards, as well as a handwritten note for each member of the staff. These will be dropped off at the school later this week.
Palmetto Station at the Fairgrounds: We had a team of 10 at Palmetto Station on the Manatee Fairgrounds. We had quite a project to take on. We removed just about everything out of the building. Half of the team cleaned inside and moved equipment while the other half painted the outside. While there is still much to do, we accomplished so much. Even Mayor Dan stopped by to lend support.
One More Child: We had the privilege of working at One More Child. Did some pressure washing two of the homes. Disassembling a metal bunk bed that had broken and taken out to the roadside along with some other old furniture. Great to see a couple of young men helping with enthusiasm.
City of Palmetto – Sutton Park: We had an incredible team working on the City of Palmetto’s Sutton Park project, including some enthusiastic young helpers who brought great energy and effort to the job. We were also fortunate to have three professional landscapers on our team, along with several other dedicated volunteers. Together, we removed the old plants around the Sutton Park signs and replaced them with fresh greenery, flowers, and mulch, giving the area a cleaner, more attractive, and professional appearance.
CareNet Pregnancy Center: Nineteen volunteers, including Pastor Todd’s small group painted inside walls at the Center and then celebrated afterward with lunch at ChikFillet.
Sewing Team: We had wonderful fellowship and got SEW HAPPY! Today we had 20 workers sewing, running, and ironing for 3 hours which equals 60 man-hours of work. So far, since Gold Heart Quilters started on Serve Saturdays in February of 2024, we have distributed 172 quilts to Tidewell Hospice. These workers contribute so much help to the Gold Hearts. They truly have a heart of gold in service to the Lord.
We also had a team painting picnic tables at 17th St park, a small team on campus completing the electrical work in the facilities barn, replacement of parking lot ties at CareNet Pregnancy Center., our loyal chair cleaning team, trash pickup by our Adopt-A-Block team, and – of course – our prayer team.
Recap of SERVE Saturday on May 3, 2025
Thank you again for all the effort that went into SERVE Saturday.
Realizing that the seasonal residents had left us and we were still taking a breath after the hurricane relief, we still had over 130 volunteers for the May 3 SERVE event. We were extremely pleased with the effort put forth by the leaders and the volunteers. Here is a short recap:
- At SOLVE House we met with the Director and he introduced the team to the purpose of Solve House from the beginnings to the present time. He added a couple of other tasks, more than originally planned. So we broke up into teams, removing some old wood off the ramp going into the work shed, then we replaced and painted it. Part of the team started trimming trees. We also weeded out the front shrub beds at the office and added some extra mulch and placed it. The hurricane had damaged some fence. One post had never been up righted. The old broken concrete was removed from around the base of the post. The post was straightened, leveled, braced; concrete was mixed and placed around it. After cleaning up, we got a tour of some of the rooms and more information about the ladies that come there, and the impact that the ministry is making in their lives.
- The sewing team prepared the work for 8 patriotic quilts for Tidewell Hospice. During the last cycle of GriefShare, Tidewell referred 2 clients to the GriefShare group, so we are on their radar and referring people to our group. Of the 12 that were working this morning, two of the women are new to our church and were thrilled to be a part of a mission like this. We are SEW HAPPY to serve the Lord with this mission!
- There were nine on our laundromat team. It was not as chaotic as in the past which allowed us to have great conversations. We had much interest in the church in general, and the Hispanic ministry in particular. All received tracts, invitations and a number heard the Gospel
- There were 8 guys at the church barn project. We repaired the roof and added a shelving unit on the inside to store the contents of the trailers. We also ran electrical for an outside charging station for the food trailer and some outlets and switches for the new lights in the barn.
- Another very successful project completed at Feeding Empty Little Tummies thanks to the outstanding efforts of six adults and four youth that worked diligently to complete their tasks. Those tasks included washing and cleaning all food bins, tables, chairs, carts and food collection barrels as well as gaining an understanding of the scope of FELT from the Director Jessica Ryherd.
- At OneMore Child, we had about 16 or 17 volunteers who painted most of the entire foster home in 5 hours (amounting to about 90 man hours).
- We also completed three Neighbor projects in Palmetto, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch and supported the beach baptism at Coquina Beach.
- Of course, the homeless mat project was also well-attended and we had several willing chair cleaners.
Jobs well done!
Recap of SERVE Saturday on February 8, 2025
We had over 190 volunteers go out into the community and show the love of Jesus Christ in several ways:
Selah Freedom: Two teams were formed to provide focus and help accomplish more work. Great group of hard workers and great fellowship.
Guardian Angels Foster Parent Appreciation: Two teams were formed to provide focus and help accomplish more work. Great group of hard workers and great fellowship.
Sewing/Quilting: We had 22 workers present, representing 55 man-hours of work! We had 4 guests come, including the Volunteer Coordinator for Tidewell Hospice and Gold Heart officers, and a new long-arm quilter. Distribution of quilts: 25 quilts to N. River Pregnancy Care, 43 quilts to Azinger , and 58 quilts to Tidewell Hospice from Gold Heart Quilters. What a day of blessings! We are SEW HAPPY!
Suncoast Youth For Christ: We ended up with only 6 team members to serve but recruited some children from one of the center’s leaders. We cleaned off many palm trees, removed three large stumps, trimmed several palm trees, took down framework from two canopies destroyed from hurricanes, trimmed weeds and did some heavy cleaning inside the rec center.
Neighbors Needing Help: We We had a stalwart and focused effort by hard working SERVE participants completing a painting task at the home of one of our elder members. Another team spread mulch and rock for a church member. Yet another team pressure washed the mobile home of a choir member. Another team was involved in rebuilding the roof of a lanai that was lost during Milton.
City of Palmetto: Our project was to refresh the flower beds by the Palmetto Sutton Park signs. We had a group of five people pulling weeds, clipping back dead branches, digging out sabal palms, fertilizing, and mulching, and were later joined by the group who did landscaping at the Palmetto Historical Park. It was a great morning of camaraderie and laughter. And as we worked, many passers-by commented on how much they appreciated the work we were doing.
Palmetto Historical Society: The Palmetto Historical Park turned out to be a great project. With some last minute signups we ended up with around ten adults and students serving and we knocked it out quickly! Jordan from the society had everything prepped and ready for us which helped move things along. Some of our team went and helped the Sutton Park group when we were done.
Il Villagio: We had a small team but got a lot done. Going forward it would be helpful to have a co-leader. Would have been helpful to have someone at the church and someone at the project site.
North River Pregnancy Center: Project consisted of painting interior hall and reception area, cleanup debris and reapplying mulch around the building’s perimeter, and removing overgrowth and weeds around their storage shed. The team proved invaluable as all stages of the project were completed. Along with the projects, a lot of fellowship was observed during this time. Special thanks to Terri and Laura of NRPC for being there and showing us the details needed.
Laundromats: The Laundromat ministry was exceptional. We were able to share the Gospel with many folks. It is exhausting but it’s a blessing.
And many more stories…
Recap of SERVE Saturday on November 9, 2024
Our expectations for this SERVE were a bit different than the past because of the number of hours our church people have already spent on hurricane relief over the past month. We therefore scaled back our SERVE opportunities and focused on eight Neighbor projects, thank you cards to EMT and service workers, as well as some of the popular standard offerings like homeless mats, laundromat, and church maintenance. We had over 160 volunteers sign up for the 21 projects.