Being the Hands and Feet: How The Point Church Serves Charlottesville
THE CHURCH
The Point Church in Charlottesville, Virginia
THE CHALLENGE
Help church members live out their faith every day
ONE BIG IDEA
Show the light of Jesus by completing service projects.
Actions speak louder than words.
It’s an aphorism we’ve heard many times, but it rings true at The Point Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. The congregation believes wholeheartedly in this principle, and church leaders are adamant that their congregants really live out the Christian message. And part of doing that is church community service projects.
“It’s about doing what we say,” explains Local Reach Pastor Adam Coleman, who also serves as pastor at the church’s Ridge Street campus. “There is something about actually getting out and being the hands and feet of Jesus that makes the message more tangible.”
That’s the heart behind the church’s Local Reach Day, which connects church volunteers with local partners such as schools, senior centers and The Salvation Army to complete community service projects on a Saturday morning. During the church’s last Local Reach Day in September 2025, 350 volunteers showed up to tackle a total of 28 projects.
Some of the church community service projects were more relational by nature. For instance, a resident at a local senior center had mentioned to a church member how much she missed engaging in her family’s annual cookout tradition, so volunteers bought a bunch of hot dogs and threw them on the grill at the center for a neighborhood cookout.
“It was a good reminder that service is not always just about going out and cleaning up someone’s yard,” says Coleman. “It can also mean spending time with people in a meaningful way.”
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Another service project the church completed involved overhauling a school’s courtyard area with masonry and landscaping work in order to give guidance counselors a beautiful, inviting space to meet with students.
Going forward, The Point hopes to plan three Local Reach Days a year and add in more service projects as the pastors continue to build relationships with other churches and organizations in the area. In addition to these service days, the church also has Local Reach Groups that consist of 10 to 12 volunteers who go out every Sunday into neighborhoods they have adopted to drop off necessities such as diapers and canned goods.
“America is going through a lot, but still we have volunteers from different backgrounds, colors and experiences show up to help,” says Coleman. “That’s what the church should be: a lighthouse for unity.”
