Meaningful Service
We connect through meaningful service
Here and around the world
Cross of Life serves God’s people in a wide variety of ways. From local ministry partners to global mission partners halfway around the world, we seek to equip lives for the betterment of our world. Join hands to engage in some form of service ministry. Your life will never be the same!
Community Outreach
Atlanta Hunger Walk
The Atlanta Hunger Walk Run, an annual 5K walk and “fun run,” is an event of the Atlanta Community Food Bank that helps to raise awareness and to end hunger in Greater Atlanta and North Georgia. Cross of Life has a team each year and we’ve been participating virtually during the pandemic.
ESL Classes
If you can read English but would enjoy meeting with others to practice speaking English, please visit our free ESL class. The class meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Cross of Life Lutheran Church, 1000 Hembree Road, Roswell. You may begin any Tuesday.
Email or call the church office (770-475-9159) for additional information.
Habitat for Humanity
Cross of Life is part of the Lutheran Coalition for Habitat for Humanity and seeks to build a home each year. Volunteers offer both skilled and less-skilled labor, provide lunch for builders and get to know the receiving family with whom they work side by side.
MUST Ministries
MUST Ministries, provides assistance and hosts seasonal programs for Cobb and Cherokee County residents. Cross of Life supports their efforts by organizing a food drive each year.
North Fulton Community Charities
North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC), is a non-profit agency dedicated to preventing homelessness in the North Fulton County area by assisting people with basic needs and adult education classes. We provide financial and in-kind support, have congregation members who volunteer there on a regular basis, the youth assist annually with the Santa Workshop, and we hold food drives and special collections throughout the year.
The Place of Forsyth
The Place is a non-profit organization that serve residents of Forsyth County. The Place assists resident families with emergency basic needs in difficult times. In addition, The Place also operates a thrift store onsite that provides affordable merchandise to the public.
Residents in need of assistance may call the program office at 770-887-1098 for an appointment. Click here for more info about The Place of Forsyth County.
Regional & National
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Southeastern Synod
Due to our membership in the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Cross of Life helps accomplish far more than any single congregation could accomplish:
- support new and redeveloping congregations
- coordinate and support social ministry organizations
- bring forth and train leaders (clergy and lay)
- participate in ministries with global and ecumenical mission partners
- support Lutheran colleges, seminaries, camps, and retreat centers across the U.S.
Cross of Life gives 10% of donations to the operating fund of the Southeastern Synod, who in turn gives 50% to the ELCA. Cross of Life assists in ministry through the ELCA, and we have also been direct recipients of grants and partner funding in the past.
Our Synod
- partners with congregations to prepare candidates to become rostered leaders (pastors, deacons. . .)
- works with congregations that are seeking a pastor
- provides care for pastors and congregations
- sponsors targeted events like the AFFIRM Youth Event
- offers support and networking to congregations and their leaders
Our bishop in the Southeastern Synod is The Rev. Kevin Strickland, and he is assisted by a highly qualified staff of pastors and lay people. Synod Assembly is held each June, at which time voting members from Cross of Life gather with others from our 4-state synod for worship, reports from various agencies, and policy decisions for our synod.
For more information, check out the websites for the Southeastern Synod and the ELCA.
Lutheran Disaster Response
Recovery efforts for hurricanes and other major disasters can take years. Lutheran Disaster Response is a trustworthy organization that approaches disaster response on the model of accompaniment: walking alongside the victims until they are made whole, which is usually long after media attention has died down. To help, donate at the link above or write a check payable to Cross of Life (put the appropriate Lutheran Disaster Response effort in the memo line), then put your check in the offering plate or bring or mail it to the church office.
Inspiritus
Inspiritus (formerly Lutheran Services of Georgia) is a social service agency which combines the resources of staff, financial donors, various governmental agencies, volunteers, and Lutheran congregations in its efforts to bring quality programs and services to the people of Georgia and Tennessee. While Inspiritus provides many services, Cross of Life is particularly involved with the following programs:
In 2019, working with Inspiritus, teams from COL made two trips to Albany, Ga., to help repair a home damaged by tornadoes.
Global Mission Partners
ELCA World Hunger
The ELCA World Hunger program provides for the hungry of the world through direct aid, education, development and advocacy. Approximately 75% of their resources are given to global efforts, and 25% spent domestically. Click here for full information on the ELCA World Hunger program.
Specifically at Cross of Life, we support World Hunger on the first Sunday of each month with Loose Change Sunday. All loose change in the offering plate goes to World Hunger. We also contribute funds to dig wells in communities where clean water is a matter of life or death. A number of our COL families also make donations to the ELCA Good Gifts Campaign each Christmas.
Galing Foundation (Philippines)
Recovery efforts for hurricanes and other major disasters can take years. Lutheran Disaster Response is a trustworthy organization that approaches disaster response on the model of accompaniment: walking alongside the victims until they are made whole, which is usually long after media attention has died down. To help, donate at the link above or write a check payable to Cross of Life (put the appropriate Lutheran Disaster Response effort in the memo line), then put your check in the offering plate or bring or mail it to the church office.
Padhar Mission School (India)
The ELCA World Hunger program provides for the hungry of the world through direct aid, education, development and advocacy. Approximately 75% of their resources are given to global efforts, and 25% spent domestically. Click here for full information on the ELCA World Hunger program.
Specifically at Cross of Life, we support World Hunger on the first Sunday of each month with Loose Change Sunday. All loose change in the offering plate goes to World Hunger. We also contribute funds to dig wells in communities where clean water is a matter of life or death. A number of our COL families also make donations to the ELCA Good Gifts Campaign each Christmas.
Sus Hijos (El Salvador)
The Sus Hijos (Spanish for His Children) Foundation in El Salvador was founded in 2008 in response to the desperate needs of the many orphaned and abandoned children in El Salvador. In El Salvador, 1/3 population lives in poverty, the average child will drop out of school by the 5th Grade, and the murder rate is one of the highest in the world. Donations to this non-profit organization support life-changing initiatives and in 2018 Cross of Life participated in a mission trip there to build housing.
Quilting for Lutheran World Relief
The Cross of Life Quilters meet most Tuesdays during the school year to make quilts for Lutheran World Relief. These quilts are then sent overseas, where they provide warmth on a cold night, shelter from the harsh sun, or even clothing. You do not need to be able to sew to make these quilts — they are made by tying knots. Donations of used sheets, remnant fabrics, and money for batting are always appreciated.
Outreach in Africa
Baptist Women of Malawi (our partner for Cyclone Freddy Relief)